CORRUPTION-KENYA:
Rights Group Targets Ministers
Joyce Mulama
If civil society groups have their way, a guideline drafted by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights should hold cabinet ministers accountable for their actions while in office.
NAIROBI, Apr 5 (IPS) -
The Guidelines for Individual Ministerial Responsibility' provide for public officials to resign without waiting for the president to take action if they have been implicated in corruption scandals leading to credible questions of competence and integrity.
Maina Kiai, chairman of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), says they are planning a series of public meetings to create awareness on how to hold civil servants accountable, and demand for their resignation in case of any wrongdoings.
'The continued stay in office of a minister affects the credibility and effectiveness of government as a whole, focusing public attention to the scandal rather than to its work. Now we are convening meetings with the public and by the end of this year we will present our document to the cabinet for approval,'' he told IPS.
Kiai says the public has a duty to get involved in how the government runs its affairs. 'It's the role of all Kenyans to probe and put public officers to task when they hear something wrong in government. We have to stop the culture of talking and complaining and do something about corruption. Kenyans have not taken advantage of the law which provides them to question public servants when they suspiciously get rich overnight,'' he said.
Section 55 of Kenya's Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act stipulates that if a public officer is living beyond his means, a case can be made against him and it is up to him to prove that he is not corrupt.
The move by the watchdog to draft the guidelines follows a cabinet reshuffle in February. In the reshuffle, the country's powerful minister of national security, Chris Murungaru, was transferred to the ministry of transport to quell a public outcry over allegations of corruption in his ministry.
Most of the corruption scandals have reportedly revolved around the supply of police and military equipment, both which fell under Murungaru's ministry.
One of the cases, the so called Anglo-Leasing scandal, which was unearthed last April, involved an irregular allocation of tenders and payments for making terrorist proof passports and the construction of a forensic laboratory for the criminal investigations department. Murungaru's ministry, together with David Mwiraria's finance ministry, allegedly approved payments of about 93 million dollars to the Anglo-Leasing, a shadowy foreign firm.
The two ministers have exonerated themselves from blame through press statements. But their permanent secretaries were suspended and charged in court in February.
Since then pressure has been mounting on President Mwai Kibaki to immediately dismiss cabinet ministers and suspend officials implicated in corrupt deals.
At a public forum on corruption held in Kenya's capital Nairobi Feb. 17, Gladwell Otieno, executive director of the Kenya chapter of Transparency International, a global anti-corruption watchdog, urged parliament to consider a vote of no confidence in the government if the president failed to act on corrupt officials.
Suspension of culprits is important as it shows government's commitment to combat graft, critics say.
'But transferring a minister from one ministry to the other is not a solution. It is like transferring corruption from one ministry to the other. The public expects nothing less than apprehension of suspects, prosecution of culprits and recovery of lost public funds and assets. People want to see an absence of cover-ups,'' Chweya Ludeki, head of history and government department at the University of Nairobi, told IPS.
The growing concern about corruption comes after a fiery attack by the British ambassador Edward Clay on President Kibaki's government over its involvement in alleged large-scale graft. Clay said he had handed to Kibaki a dossier of 20 new corruption scandals.
The scandals, which implicate at least four cabinet ministers, Clay said, have to do with the way government departments have procured goods and services.
'I have, as I say, given over to the Kenyan authorities the bare details of those 20 dodgy tenders. Their combined value leaves far behind the figure of 15 billion shillings (about 187 million dollars) I gave back in July. Some rejected that figure or called it unsubstantiated. As more evidence of current corruption emerges, that figure will look ridiculously small,'' Clay noted. He was speaking at the annual Journalists of the Year Awards in Nairobi on Feb. 2.
During a similar criticism in July 2004, Clay said corruption had cost Kenya 187 million dollars since Kibaki came to power in December 2002.
One of the 20 new cases involves a multi-million-dollar naval ship which the military reportedly purchased without proper tendering.
'Kenya buys civilian ships. Then it converts them into warships. The Kenyan Navy has four such hybrids in service and is buying one or two more. Questions needing asking include: Why are these ships being bought? Where do they fit into the Economic Recovery Strategy? Why (do) the Kenyan authorities follow this seemingly secretive and round about way of acquiring warships for its Navy?'' Clay asked. The government has since branded him an enemy of Kenya.
The Economic Recovery Strategy, Clay referred to, is a five-year plan to recover Kenya's economy and create wealth. It was launched in 2003.
The corruption allegations that have dogged President Kibaki's administration saw John Githongo, a graft fighter, resign from government in February. Family members and friends say he was increasingly frustrated as little or nothing was done to prosecute corrupt officials, and that his inquiries into new corruption cases were being resisted.
Githongo was the permanent secretary in the ministry of governance and ethics. His briefs included advising President Kibaki on the development, implementation and monitoring of policies involving fighting corruption.
The corruption allegations have prompted the United States to halt about 2.5 million dollars in aid to Kenya's anti-graft agencies in February. Other donors also have threatened to follow suit if the government does not clean up its house.
According to Clay, these scandals bring to doubt government's pledge to fight corruption. 'There is loss of confidence in institutions and a crisis of confidence about the government's determination to win the war against corruption,'' he told IPS Feb. 11.
'The government needs to move first to repair this damage. The repair work will only be useful if determination becomes clear; that wrongdoing is investigated and wrongdoers punished,'' he added.
Critics maintain that Kibaki, who came to power in 2002 on a platform of zero tolerance on corruption, has fallen short off bringing reformers into key government positions. 'We need a radical surgery on the public service; we need reformers with respected credentials who will change the culture of things in government. You cannot have reforms without reformers,'' Kiai said.
'You cannot keep people who have records of the corruption we are claiming to be fighting. Why do we have them when more than 60 percent of Kenya's population is youth, most of them with proper credentials?'' he added.
The government says it has not relented in its commitment. 'Fighting graft is not an easy thing. But we are doing all we can. It is just a matter of time before those named in the scandal are brought to book. This will only happen after investigations have been done,'' a senior government official in the ministry of justice and constitutional affairs told IPS on condition of anonymity.
In a bid to show its seriousness, last month the government asked Interpol, the Paris-based police organisation, to help track down the principal architects of the dubious business deal with the Anglo-Leasing firm.
'We also have legislation requiring public servants to declare their wealth as this is key in promoting accountability and transparency,'' the official said.
In May 2003 the government inserted wealth declaration requirements into the Public Officer Ethics Act. The clause demands that all public officials from the president to messengers declare their income, assets and liabilities including those of their spouses and dependent children.
But, to the chagrin of civil society groups, only a handful of legislators have made public their wealth, so far.
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