Corruption in Kenya as Top Ministers are Implicated

Ongeri and Ruto

After two senior government officers in the  Coalition Government in Kenya handed in their resignation notices early Saturday and President Mwai Kibaki took the cue to sack six others over alleged corruption, the spotlight remains hard on the duties of two ministers whose official dockets bear the latest corruption accusation burden. A confession by Education Minister Prof. Sam Ongeri in a community-public function in a remote village, South West of the country on Friday, that indeed, he diverted some money belonging to Free Primary Education (FPE) to his community and the recent PriceWaterhouse Coopers’ report recommending Agriculture Minister, William Ruto’s resignation, it is increasingly becoming unbearable for the former KANU top functionaries to hang on to office.

The two; Prof. Ongeri and Ruto have become under intense pressure to forfeit their government duties for lack of transparency in handling official matters under their dockets for the last one week. Nevertheless, according to their public statements, they are not about to heed the calls to step aside. However, with the latest developments where five PSs and a top State official in the Prime Minister’s office are officially out, government critics and political analysts are focused on heaping more pressure for the two to follow suit disregard of their party affiliations terming them “the remnants of the totalitarian-corrupt KANU regime of retired President Daniel Arap Moi.” Speaking late yesterday in Rift Valley, North West of the Capital, Nairobi – where he has mastered political-community sympathy – Ruto who has also been kicking political storm in relation to the post election violence issues; reiterated, just moments before Kibaki sacked Agriculture PS, Dr. Romano Kiome that, he is not going to step aside even after being named in the PWC report recommended for his resignation.

On Friday, Ruto joined Prof. Ongeri in a burial meeting of the former Trade Assistant Minister, Mr. Omingo Magara’s son in South West Kenya where both of them just dismissed the PM’s continued campaign against corruption involving key government officials as political. Once again, a cross section of Kenyans who have independently spoke to Newstime Africa want Prof. Ongeri and Ruto to quit their government positions. During a church function held in the Eastland area of the Capital, Nairobi, evangelists drawn from across the world who were witnessing the consecration of Bishop Wilfred Lai to the position of Redeemed Gospel Church in Kenya head warned that Kenyans are tired of corruption among government officials. Both Ongeri and Ruto served under the KANU regime single handedly ruled the country for over 30 years before the National Rainbow Coalition of Kibaki and Raila deposed it from power in 2002.

During his public address before thousands of mourners who gathered at the former Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Party National Treasurer, Magara’s homestead to console him after the demise of his son in a road accident, two weeks ago, Ongeri, a surgeon by expertise, shocked the country which is yet to come into terms with the mysterious disappearance of the billions of shillings meant for FPE by confessing that he diverted some of them to his community. Speaking in his native Kisii language, he attributed his actions to what he termed as a “glaring inequality, skewed and unfair” budgetary allocation of the money to the Gusii region and Nyanza in general. Political keeners in the country have described the minister’s confession as populist; and strategically meant to seek tribal sympathy especially at a time when a parliamentary by-election is in the offing in the area after Mr. Magara lost his South Mugirango seat in a Court petition.

And while tendering their resignations through brief statements sent to media houses, the PM’s office PS, Dr. Mohamed Isahakia and the Chief of Staff Caroli Omondi said they had only resigned to pave way for investigations. “I wish to inform the public at large that I have today decided to temporarily step aside from my position as PS in the PM’s office to facilitate due process of law in respect of the final PricewaterhouseCoopers report,” stated Isahakia. Omondi on his part said his decision was aimed at giving the PM a free hand to deal decisively with the scandal. “I have taken this decision notwithstanding the fact that PWC, having now seen the relevant documentary proof have confirmed that I acted on the authority of the Cabinet,” he said.

The move comes hot on the heels of sustained pressure from the civil society and Kenyans for the PM and his aides and other government officials implicated in graft to step down. Earlier, Former head of protocol at the PM’s office Tony Gachoka claimed that Raila knew of the maize scandal in 2008 before it was brought to the public domain but chose to give it a berth. He said that while still working for the PM, he received information on the scandal and reported the issue to him. Gachoka, a journalist by profession, claimed that he was instead punished by Isahakia for the action that forced him later, to resign. “He was aware that I knew about the scandal before, and therefore if he is sincere, he is my friend, I have nothing personal about him, when it comes to corruption of billions of shillings, integrity require that the truth be told,” he said.

During the  past one week a flurry of activities surrounding the maize scandal – believed to have cost the taxpayer an estimated US$26.1 million (Sh2 billion) – since Raila received the final forensic audit report on the saga, forced him to call for public patience to allow for its evaluation before official action is taken. The PM met journalists late last week and briefed them on the progress of the scandal which came to the public limelight in 2008 and gathered storm last year. He had just received the PCW audit report two days earlier. Some of the recommendations of the damning report – that also incriminated Isahakia; Omondi, Dr. Kiome, Special Programmes Ministry PS, Ali Mohammed; National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB)  head, Gideon Misoi and another senior officer at the Board –  stated that Ruto should resign to pave way for further investigations.

Yesterday, a Presidential order also saw the axe fall on the abrasive Education PS, Prof. Karega Mutahi over embezzlement of close to US$52.1 million (Sh4 billion) entitled by development partners to the FPE programme that has so far witnessed heavy enrolment of students from poor families including the late world’s oldest pupil, Kimani Maruge who passed on last year at the age of 86 years old. During the meeting with journalists and senior news editors at Kenya International Conference Centre (KICC) last week, Raila announced that a technical committee will be formed to study the PWC report before any action is taken. PWC’s report shows evidence of briefcase traders who acted as go between with millers and raked millions of shillings.

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