Columnist’s recent writing concerning me less than accurate

I refer to the column by Macharia Gaitho (Nation, July 10) under the headline “Kabuga Mystery and all other ghosts of the past that haunt Kenya.”

I have been in public service for 30 years and generally I am not averse to criticism. But Mr Gaitho’s recent writings concerning me were less than accurate.

Regarding the reform agenda, in 2007 I helped form the ODM based on the principles of fairness, equality and justice. It seems illogical that I would be elected its national chairman were I not supportive of the reform agenda in Kenya.

It is true that I served in the government of former President Moi but so did many other people. I supported the new Constitution despite the fact that there was opposition to it in my home province.

Regarding the collapse of Kenya National Assurance Company in 1996, that was four years after my departure. I have been accused of mismanagement of the company.

This is not true. At the time I joined KNAC the company had deposits in excess of a billion shillings in a number of small banks.

Kenya experienced a turbulent economical period in the 1990s and these institutions collapsed. Regrettably KNAC could no longer meet its obligations and went into liquidation.

I will add that the decisions to deposit KNAC monies in these financial institutions had nothing to do with me as they were made well before I joined.

HENRY K. KOSGEY, MP, Tinderet constituency