POLITICS SINK KENYA'S WAR ON GRAFT !
By Adam Mynott BBC News, Nairobi.
Most Kenyans are deeply cynical about MPs' decision to stop investigating allegations of grand corruption before 2003.
But, as ever in politics, there is more going on beneath the surface.
Kenya is just three months away from a presidential and parliamentary elections, and politicians are jostling for position, deciding which political alliance to join and working out how best to ensure their re-election.
The move to approve the clauses in the Statute Law Bill, emasculating the Kenya's Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC), is as much about political point-scoring as it is about the merits of the legislation.
It is also governed by deep self-interest.
There is great scepticism about KACC's role and how effective it has been, and this was behind the motives of some of the MPs who voted for the clauses.
KACC has received more than 3,700 reports of alleged corruption since it was established in 2003.
It has achieved about 20 successful convictions and crucially most of these are for corrupt acts committed by minnows in the graft game - village chiefs and policemen, clerks in local government and minor officials convicted of taking bribes.
None of the big fish have been caught.
Evidence against cabinet ministers has been dismissed.
Three very senior politicians were implicated in the Goldenberg and Anglo Leasing scandals which cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
In February last year, Education Minister Professor George Saitoti, resigned after being accused of involvement in Goldenberg.
He denied any guilt and five months later the High Court in Nairobi said he had no case to answer.
He is back behind his desk at the ministry of education, and is even being talked of as a future president of the country.
Ministers Kiraitu Murungi and David Mwiraria were implicated in the Anglo Leasing scam; both men were forced to resign under a huge public outcry.
The man who led the parliamentary action this week is Paul Muite, MP for Safina, a very able politician and a sharp lawyer, he has long been a critic of KACC and its powers to dig into the private financial affairs of people it wants to investigate.
Mr Muite represented former cabinet minister Chris Murungaru, who lost his job after allegations of involvement in Anglo Leasing.
Mr Murungaru refused to reveal his wealth and assets, and has protested his innocence.
He is currently fighting a ban imposed on him by the British government from travelling to the UK.
Paul Muite was accused in parliament by Justice Minister Martha Karua of "having a personal interest" in seeing the amendments to the bill.
"This amendment," she said, "is mischievous."
There have also been claims that it suits many politicians to have a firm black line drawn under Goldenberg and Anglo Leasing, so deep and wide were the tentacles of corruption.
Whatever the motives of the 38 MPs who voted the amendments through, the impression left is that Kenya's MPs are as unconcerned about corruption as those in government.
Kenya's National Commission for Human Rights head Maina Kiai said: "Parliament has simply formalised what the executive has been doing, and it does send the message to all of us - not just internationally, but also to us in Kenya - that the war on corruption is as good as lost."
The current government came to power five years ago promising to "rid the country of corruption".
President Mwai Kibaki, who made that hollow promise in 2002, is preparing to run again.
No-one will believe him or any of the other candidates in Kenya's presidential race if they try to claim they will tackle corruption.
The people of Kenya have had heard it all before and it simply does not wash any longer.
Most Kenyans are deeply cynical about MPs' decision to stop investigating allegations of grand corruption before 2003.
But, as ever in politics, there is more going on beneath the surface.
Kenya is just three months away from a presidential and parliamentary elections, and politicians are jostling for position, deciding which political alliance to join and working out how best to ensure their re-election.
The move to approve the clauses in the Statute Law Bill, emasculating the Kenya's Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC), is as much about political point-scoring as it is about the merits of the legislation.
It is also governed by deep self-interest.
There is great scepticism about KACC's role and how effective it has been, and this was behind the motives of some of the MPs who voted for the clauses.
KACC has received more than 3,700 reports of alleged corruption since it was established in 2003.
It has achieved about 20 successful convictions and crucially most of these are for corrupt acts committed by minnows in the graft game - village chiefs and policemen, clerks in local government and minor officials convicted of taking bribes.
None of the big fish have been caught.
Evidence against cabinet ministers has been dismissed.
Three very senior politicians were implicated in the Goldenberg and Anglo Leasing scandals which cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
In February last year, Education Minister Professor George Saitoti, resigned after being accused of involvement in Goldenberg.
He denied any guilt and five months later the High Court in Nairobi said he had no case to answer.
He is back behind his desk at the ministry of education, and is even being talked of as a future president of the country.
Ministers Kiraitu Murungi and David Mwiraria were implicated in the Anglo Leasing scam; both men were forced to resign under a huge public outcry.
The man who led the parliamentary action this week is Paul Muite, MP for Safina, a very able politician and a sharp lawyer, he has long been a critic of KACC and its powers to dig into the private financial affairs of people it wants to investigate.
Mr Muite represented former cabinet minister Chris Murungaru, who lost his job after allegations of involvement in Anglo Leasing.
Mr Murungaru refused to reveal his wealth and assets, and has protested his innocence.
He is currently fighting a ban imposed on him by the British government from travelling to the UK.
Paul Muite was accused in parliament by Justice Minister Martha Karua of "having a personal interest" in seeing the amendments to the bill.
"This amendment," she said, "is mischievous."
There have also been claims that it suits many politicians to have a firm black line drawn under Goldenberg and Anglo Leasing, so deep and wide were the tentacles of corruption.
Whatever the motives of the 38 MPs who voted the amendments through, the impression left is that Kenya's MPs are as unconcerned about corruption as those in government.
Kenya's National Commission for Human Rights head Maina Kiai said: "Parliament has simply formalised what the executive has been doing, and it does send the message to all of us - not just internationally, but also to us in Kenya - that the war on corruption is as good as lost."
The current government came to power five years ago promising to "rid the country of corruption".
President Mwai Kibaki, who made that hollow promise in 2002, is preparing to run again.
No-one will believe him or any of the other candidates in Kenya's presidential race if they try to claim they will tackle corruption.
The people of Kenya have had heard it all before and it simply does not wash any longer.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
posted by jackaranda at 7:36 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home