Noordin Haji: The power of a single institution

In her widely circulated 2009 TED Talk 'The Danger of a Single Story’, Nigerian writer and novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie famously argued the case that to know a people – referring to Africans in this context – one needs more than a single viewpoint given that societies are multi-layered, complex and dynamic. But to borrow Adichie’s logic – then turn it around, there is an argument to be made about the power of a single institution, as impetus for triggering change and accountability within government.

GRAND CORRUPTION

A good example is South Africa’s Office of the Public Protector, equivalent to Kenya’s Office of the Ombudsman. Under the proactive and audacious leadership of the celebrated law professor Advocate Thuli Madonsela, the institution produced groundbreaking investigative reports which ruffled many feathers in high places, eventually cornering the country’s then untouchable President Jacob Zuma. Despite there having been a flurry of allegations of grand corruption within Zuma’s government, it is Madonsela’s courageous reports which gave legal credence to these accusations, thereby resulting in Zuma’s ultimate recall as head of state by the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), and the subsequent establishment of the ongoing Commission of Inquiry into State Capture led by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.

THULI MADONSELA

First came the ‘Secure in Comfort’ report, investigating allegations that Zuma had illegally spent an obscene amount of public funds in upgrading the security and other features at his rural home in Nkandla, Kwazulu Natal. With chants of ‘‘pay back the money’’, opposition parties within parliament tried to endlessly embarrass Zuma into reimbursing the money to no avail. In the end, it was Madonsela’s indicting report which gave gravitas to the claims by the ‘pay back the money’ brigade, confirming that indeed taxpayers had been ripped off in the Nkandla affair.

Then followed the ‘State of Capture’ report. Released barely days before Madonsela’s term of office expired, the investigation confirmed allegations that a small clique of rogue individuals operating around three well connected Indian brothers and businessmen, the Guptas – Ajay, Atul and Rajesh – had effectively captured the South African state under Zuma’s watch.

PUBLIC CONFIDENCE

According to Madonsela’s findings, and as witnesses are currently confirming before the Zondo Commission on state capture – which is barely a fortnight into its sittings – the Guptas went as far as having powers to decide who got appointed into Cabinet, with those declining to play ball with the brothers immediately facing the sack. It is, therefore, fair to say Madonsela legally engineered the turning around of the South African state, setting precedent that no one was above the law.

Kenya has for a long time yearned for a Madonsela-like figure, an individual who would occupy a critical constitutional office and who would, without fear or favour, execute their mandate and inspire public confidence that indeed no one is above the law.

PROSECUTORIAL

Additionally, one hopes that like in Madonsela’s case, the performance of such an individual and their institution would then have a domino effect, prompting other concerned institutions into taking cue and following suit in effecting change. Luckily, Madonsela was buttressed by progressive forces within parliament, an aggressively inquisitive media which went as far as publishing leaked emails confirming state capture, coupled with a robust civil society and student movement which clamoured for a rebirth.

Auditor General Edward Ouko can be said to have been consistent in tirelessly attempting to protect Kenya’s public purse, yet the fact that he lacks prosecutorial powers – like Madonsela – means he’s only limited to pinpointing suspected graft and leaving it to relevant state authorities to institute further investigations and/or legal action, both of which cannot be said to have been forthcoming.

FAR REACHING

For one, what comes to mind are the red flags he raised concerning the Eurobond, and the fact that huge chunks of the money could not be traced within government expenditure. Yet despite his valiant execution of his mandate, the fact that Ouko’s numerous reports have not necessarily elicited the sort of far reaching implications the likes of Madonsela educed possibly points to other external factors which contribute to the success of the Madonselas of this world.

However, it is the arrival of Noordin Haji at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions that has sent jitters within government and beyond, with high level corruption prosecutions coming barely months upon his assumption of office.

UNCOMMON GUSTO

Seeming like the long missing hinge for turning the public accountability door, Haji took up his responsibilities with a gusto uncommon in majority of Kenyan public officers. Appearing incorruptible, he has gone ahead to put the corresponding state agencies like the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission on their toes. Could it be early to ask whether Haji is Kenya’s Thuli Madonsela?

It is noteworthy, however, that in Madonsela’s case, she didn’t enjoy the full support of Zuma as she executed her duties. Haji, on the other hand, enjoys President Uhuru Kenyatta’s full support, if the head of state’s public pronouncements – including the sensational declaration that even his own family were not to be spared if found culpable – are anything to go by.

WITHDRAW SUPPORT

The assertion of full backing by Kenyatta is further corroborated by the fact that Haji seems to have been headhunted for the job, going through parliamentary vetting as a matter of procedure. This state of affairs, therefore, begs the question as to whether Haji can only succeed for as long as Kenyatta is on his side, or whether he can persist, like Madonsela, were the president to withdraw his support.

There has already been debate as to whether Haji is completely independent going by those he has chosen to arraign in court and those who have been previously highly suspected of grand corruption but who he hasn’t raised a finger against.

CAPACITY CONSTRAINTS

To this, Haji has pleaded that it is impossible to tackle all corruption suspects at one go, due to inadequate capacity and similar constraints. Then there are those who speculate as to whether Haji was brought in to perform a hatchet job for Kenyatta – prosecute as many of those the president approves of in a bid to appear to be fighting corruption – in consolidating Kenyatta’s apparent important legacy project.

The jury is still out, but for Haji, whether he is his own man or has been propped up by Kenyatta for ulterior motives, only time will tell. He, however, has to live up to the high expectations he has already laid out, lest he be judged harshly. Hopefully, he’ll turn out to be a Kenyan Madonsela.

Mr Amuke is a Kenyan writer and journalist