KENYA'S MR GITHONGO'S SECRET TAPE!
'Taped evidence' in Kenya scandal.
By Fergal Keane BBC News.
Mr Githongo says ministers have blocked his investigations.The BBC has obtained evidence of a major corruption scandal in Kenya. In his first interview since going into exile in Britain, Kenya's former top anti-corruption official says he told his president about the corruption. But John Githongo, Kenya's former permanent secretary for ethics, says President Mwai Kibaki failed to act. Mr Githongo has also given the BBC what he says is taped evidence of a senior government minister trying to impede a corruption inquiry. Mr Githongo says he made the tape secretly during a meeting with the man who is now Kenya's energy minister. Britain's International Development Secretary Hilary Benn said the revelations marked a moment of truth for Kenya and has called for action. Mr Githongo says government money was being paid to companies that did not exist or to others which were massively overpricing their contracts.
The president faces tough decisions ahead of polls due next year. He believed the finance was being given to business figures close to the government, who were then re-directing some of it back to the ruling elite for political campaigning. In one case, he says, the country's then-Justice Minister Kiraitu Murungi tried to pressure him by using the issue of a loan owed by Mr Githongo's father. On a tape heard by the BBC, a man Mr Githongo says is the minister is heard telling him that the loan is owed to a businessman with links to powerful politicians and that if he goes slow on his investigation the businessman will also go slow. Mr Benn described Mr Githongo as a courageous man. The eyes of the world would now be on the government to see how it reacted. The politician involved, Kiraitu Murungi, would not be interviewed but denies wrongdoing.
By Fergal Keane BBC News.
Mr Githongo says ministers have blocked his investigations.The BBC has obtained evidence of a major corruption scandal in Kenya. In his first interview since going into exile in Britain, Kenya's former top anti-corruption official says he told his president about the corruption. But John Githongo, Kenya's former permanent secretary for ethics, says President Mwai Kibaki failed to act. Mr Githongo has also given the BBC what he says is taped evidence of a senior government minister trying to impede a corruption inquiry. Mr Githongo says he made the tape secretly during a meeting with the man who is now Kenya's energy minister. Britain's International Development Secretary Hilary Benn said the revelations marked a moment of truth for Kenya and has called for action. Mr Githongo says government money was being paid to companies that did not exist or to others which were massively overpricing their contracts.
The president faces tough decisions ahead of polls due next year. He believed the finance was being given to business figures close to the government, who were then re-directing some of it back to the ruling elite for political campaigning. In one case, he says, the country's then-Justice Minister Kiraitu Murungi tried to pressure him by using the issue of a loan owed by Mr Githongo's father. On a tape heard by the BBC, a man Mr Githongo says is the minister is heard telling him that the loan is owed to a businessman with links to powerful politicians and that if he goes slow on his investigation the businessman will also go slow. Mr Benn described Mr Githongo as a courageous man. The eyes of the world would now be on the government to see how it reacted. The politician involved, Kiraitu Murungi, would not be interviewed but denies wrongdoing.
BBC NEWS REPORT/
posted by jackaranda at 11:25 pm
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