What Is Going on in Central Kenya?

[Onyango Oloo]

A Digital Essay by Onyango Oloo in West Africa

EDITED 2nd DRAFT



What Is Going on Politically in Central Kenya ?

Part One:

I wish I could tell you.

Goodbye.

Just kidding….

Let me, at the very outset, invite the incendiary ire and scorching scorn of readers rehearsing their soon to be unleashed guffaws of disbelief at my audacity in commenting on a region that I am supposed to be a “foreigner” to and “outsider” of- even though I spent the earliest years of my life in Embu, Murang’a and Nyeri; even though I have three first cousins married to my Mount Kenya compatriots; even though my son has 50% of his relatives from that region; even though my partner’s local MP is Njeru Githae; even though this area is an integral part of Kenya and I should NEVER HAVE TO PREFACE an essay thus….

But what do I want to talk about?

Quite simply the political trauma that has engulfed sections of the Gikuyu-Embu-Meru and other Mount Kenya comprador/petit bourgeois elements over the last few weeks.

Let us first of all start with the storm in the DP tea cup. If I was a sitting MP from Murang’a for instance I would be equally stunned to witness or hear that my own Chair and his long- serving deputy had climbed on a public rostrum to declare that the very electoral vehicle which jump-started a ten year quest for the country’s highest seat was being trashed by its chief beneficiaries, President Kibaki and Finance Minister Daudi Mwiraria. And of course I would be astounded to hear this at a time when other political tribal chieftains were busy consolidating their own ethnic and regional power-bases.

By putting myself in Kilemi Mwiria’s and Mwangi Kiunjuri’s political shoes, I find it easier to comprehend the logical behind Tuesday’s decision to strip the long-respected pint sized Finance Minister of his DP official kofia.

But the anxiety attacks in DP/NAK emanates from the additional fact that the Agikuyu in DP/NAK, despite being the largest ethnic group in the country, DOES NOT HAVE A SINGLE CREDIBLE PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANT that can go head to head with Ruto, Kalonzo, Uhuru, Raila, Mudavadi, Balala or any of the ODM luminaries.

Mwai Kibaki hobbles on, like the lame duck he has long been; Professor Kinuthia Saitoti has been compromised by Goldenberg; Paul Muite does not have a platform and has adamantly shunned DP in any case; Murungaru politically is equivalent to a 7 shilling Kenyan banknote; his other Anglo- Leasing Co- Alleged may as well have been immersed to their collar bones in a pit latrine for all the political stench they are omitting; Prof. Wangari Maathai has NOT capitalized on the goodwill of her Nobel Prize win…

If media reports are to be believed and that in fact the massive Anglo-Leasing Grand Swindle was orchestrated to provide a political war chest to counter the LDP in next year’s elections, then John Githongo’s current whistle-blowing has put paid to quite a number of fledgling and entrenched parliamentary careers.

CONTINUED....

[Onyango Oloo]

Part Two:


To my mind, the recent collective sulking session in Naivasha was an opportunity for a score or so Central Kenyan MPs to vent their displeasure at missing out on the bonanza of cabinet seats ceded by the LDP in the post- referendum purge by Kibaki.

A second motivation, in my opinion, was to send out a trial balloon to Uhuru’s people that these MPs could do business with KANU to galvanize the needed votes to keep the Presidency in Central Kenya.

In doing this, these pseudo rebels knew that they were arraigned against the well-fed Wazee wa Kibaki. The gang war in DP and NAK is largely class based in the sense of pitting the filthy rich Karume and Michuki comprador types versus the vibrant but relatively penniless Kiunjuri types, as each faction tries to grab an unfair share of the loot and lucre that NAK reaps as a direct result of its stranglehold at the local level of many sectors of the Kenyan neo-colonial state.

Both of these factions could easily broker a deal since their contradictions are non-antagonistic- especially if a Presidential candidate emerged that could garner millions of votes in Central Kenya as well as the Rift Valley, Western, Eastern and the Coast.

A potential candidate is Uhuru Kenyatta- unfortunately for NAK, he was denounced by ethnic chauvinists in Central Province as a traitor who cavorted with “uncircumcised boys” during the hard fought referendum campaign. Unfortunately also, he happens to be leader of KANU- a party with a very negative brand image in the bedrock communities of Central Kenya.

Which brings me to Daniel arap Moi’s fisticuffs with his favourite adopted son William Ruto when the latter threw his hat in the 2007 contest- this after Uhuru had led KANU in declaring that they would be fielding their own presidential candidate outside the ODM umbrella. I have been outside Kenya for over a week now so I have not followed every half-hour of this side show, even though I have seen some of the takes in the various Kenyan digital forums.

In my opinion, it is Daniel arap Moi who may ironically turn out to be the saviour of the Central Kenyan elite. And this will not be because the former head of state is a compassionate man. It will be largely due to the business ties and class affiliations with some of Central Kenya’s biggest economic, financial and political hitters- from Njonjo to Kibaki to the Kenyattas to Kanyotu to you name them….

According to a fellow Kenyan who follows these events quite closely, Ruto’s recent announcement was a counter punch meant to caution against any mounting of Uhuru Project Part II. My source revealed that Moi firmly believes that Uhuru Kenyatta should be the next President of Kenya- a thought that sends shudders down the collective spines among the younger set of Kalenjin politicians. It was also a deft ploy to rein in UK’s Lone Ranger hunt for the Presidency.

The fact that Moi has suddenly reversed himself and is now publicly neutral is perhaps a rueful recognition that the latest revelations about Anglo-Leasing have finally put paid to the chances of ANY Kikuyu politician- whether in NAK, KANU, LDP or any other party to be crowned the next President of Kenya in a free and fair election.

And this has largely to do with the fact that the faction around Kibaki interpreted his Presidency to his Central Kenya base as an andu aitu breakthrough they should not relinquish since the Mount Kenya communities were allegedly the “natural political rulers” of Kenya- a perception recognized and widely resented in the rest of Kenya.

Uhuru Kenyatta’s Presidential ambitions have in any case, been effectively scuttled by the latest sordid revelations about the machinations and shenanigans of the Anglo- Leasing scandal- downloaded in the Kenyan court of public opinion as a huge Kikuyu plot to accumulate billions of shillings with sole political aim of perpetuating a corrupt tribal cabal in power. Uhuru has been politically and mortally wounded in the cross fire and is now so much unelectable collateral damage.

One of the blunders of Kibaki’s back room boys was to stretch themselves too thin by starting too many battles on too many fronts- against Raila and the LDP; Uhuru and KANU, the Western donors etc.

In my opinion, John Githongo is very much part of the British led onslaught on the Kibaki Presidency and we can expect more donor pressure acting in a pincer movement to hobble the NAK regime to an abject surrender. While Murungaru may have had a slight point about the tussle between the Chinese and the Anglo-Americans being one of the factors behind his ouster, the Kieni MP’s own shady dealings are really what did him in.

Kibaki cannot play, ala Mugabe, the “anti-imperialist” card against the West because it simply will not wash nor can he play, ala Moi, the “Raila is a Communist Agitator” to persuade the West to shore up his administration because the end of the cold war took care of that red herring.

The Central Kenyan political and business elite have now been effectively consigned to the political sidewalks as potential King makers who must scour OUTSIDE their ethnic ranks for an "acceptable" successor to the lame duck Kibaki.

Will they try to drive an ethnic and regional wedge between two of ODM’s superstars Kalonzo Musyoka and Raila Odinga? Will they try to encourage an Uhuru:Mudavadi ticket in 2007?

Only time will tell.

In the meantime it is very unfortunate that this same elite has set the stage for a future backlash against the GEMA communities because of the arrogant tribal power politics most clearly manifested during the disastrous Yes Campaign.

Patriotic, democratic and progressive minded Kenyans from all the districts and provinces of Kenya must join hands in fiercely and ferociously combating any manifestations of organized Gikuyuphobia because as we all know, tribal hatred is one of the building blocks for genocide and ethnic cleansing.

It should be clearly articulated that the vast majority of Kikuyus, Merus, Aembu, Tharaka, Tigania; Chuka, Mbeere, Nyambene, Igoji and Imentu people have very little in common, in terms of class interests, with the Mwirarias, Kibakis, Michukis,Kiraitus, Murungarus and Martha Karuas.

Onyango Oloo
Bamako Mali

[Onyango Oloo]

From: MAINA GICHOHI <maina_gichohi@...>
Date: Wed Jan 25, 2006 6:08 pm
Subject: Re: [KOL] What Is Going on in Central Kenya?

Oloo,
Your shebang is comprehensive but I personally won't completely write off Uhuru's lust for State House vis a vis Nyayo's consummate backing.

The way I see it, the three national scandals (Goldenberg & Anglo-leasing and the Wako draft/compost) are pretty much going to be the determining and influential factor in Kenyan politics in the days to come as well as in the 2007 election. First off, there's the national risk of publicly unleashing both reports (Bosire's and Githongo's) simultaneously. I have heard that Kibaki wants to release the Goldenberg report if Githongo shoots first! That would immensely damage and negatively impact the economy. Secondly, Kibaki (let alone Lucy) cannot fathom being stalked by the judicial system with regards to Anglo Leasing. Nyayo on the other hand also has his solicitous and aghast eyes on the apparent Goldenberg Report-releasing frenzy and it's subsequent signification and arraignment. So they both need a good Samaritan!

All presidential aspirants besides Raila, Kalonzo, Ruto, and Uhuru are untainted with corruption - Ngilu, Kituyi, Kombo, Nyachae and Awori appear compromised and indecisive. As much as Raila is the most experienced (thus the most credible) aspirant, he is also the most alarming and disquieting one in the eyes of both Kibaki and Nyayo. They actually fear him so bad that they think that he'll be going after them to consildate his presidency were he to be elected. This is of course due to his (Raila's) boldness, valor and composure, not forgetting that he is extremely upright.

The only other aspirant with the same qualities albeit inconspicuously is Uhuru Kenyatta. He also has direct ties with the Kibaki and Nyayo families. That makes him an apparent fairy godmother - the perfect candidate for them to market for president.

Lastly, the Kenyattas are exceptionally and excellently wealthy. Notwithstanding, Uhuru has an extremely admirable network of both donors and peers. I think it is still too early for anyone to disregard him.

My opinion.

Maina.

P.S.
As much as it sounds absurd, ridiculous and even amazing, I have had a lot of this cock-and-bull story recited a hell of a lot lately!

[Onyango Oloo]

From: "barakaserv" <jmaina@...>
Date: Wed Jan 25, 2006 9:31 pm
Subject: Re: [KOL] What Is Going on in Central Kenya?

All presidential aspirants besides Raila, Kalonzo, Ruto, and Uhuru
are untainted with corruption

Gichohi,
I tend to disagree with your analysis in regard to aspirants who are
untainted with corruption. You need to revisit Ruto's background
from YK92 days until the end of Moi's term and then determine if
he's untainted. Uhuru is not an angel either -- find out how he
earned $8 million dollars in his short political tenure. It would
also be nice if he returned all the farms/land that his family
acquired illegally.
JM.

[job]

Exposed: Sh3.7bn set aside for new Anglo Leasing deal

Story by NATION Team
Publication Date: 01/27/2006


An astonishing new financial scandal involving key officials of the Narc Government can be revealed by the Nation today. Mr David Mwiraria's Finance ministry has set aside Sh3.7 billion to give to yet another fictitious Anglo Leasing-style company – this time for a national security computers project.

Senior Budget officials in the Treasury went ahead and earmarked the money for payment in spite of the exposure and investigation of a whole series of previous doubtful contracts, all made with non-existent companies. The allocation was made in the face of a public and donor outcry over corruption and is likely further to dent confidence in the Government's determination to tackle such high level graft.

The latest fortune to be set aside for payment – the Sh3.7 billion – is over and above Sh859 million already [/b]paid as a "commitment fee" as part of the contract, for the Office of the President.

Unlike in previous Anglo Leasing contracts, where the initial fees were returned once the fraudulent schemes were uncovered, it appears that the Sh859 million "commitment fee" for the computers contract is still outstanding.

The contract was awarded to a company called Globetel, which investigators believe is linked to the Kamani family, who are also linked to Anglo Leasing's Sh2.7 billion passports projects and the Sh4.1 billion police forensic laboratory scheme, among others.

The payments have been set aside for Midland Securities and Finance, allegedly of 1 Place Des Florientus, at 55 Rue Du Rhone, 1204, Geneva, in Switzerland.

But the Daily Nation yesterday confirmed that no such company is registered in Switzerland.

However, some Government officials are aware of this doubtful deal and its implications and are determined to stop the apparent fraud from going through.

For instance Treasury permanent secretary Joseph Kinyua yesterday assured the Nation he had blocked the release of funds to the fictitious company, adding: "As long as I am the permanent secretary, not a single cent will be paid on those contracts until we have finished investigations."

Explaining why the money was put in the Budget, the PS said it was done as a precaution so that if some of the contracts were real, then they could be paid, "because you can’t pay something outside the Budget".

As a result of the refusal by the PS to sign the release orders, Sh16 billion has accumulated in Government coffers – money that was to have gone to pay contracts under investigation.

The computers project appears to be a classic Anglo Leasing-type secret scheme, this time involving Globetel and Midland, both fictitious companies.

Globetel gave its address as Sheraton House, Castle House, Cambridge, UK. This is the same address given by Silverson Establishment, another fictitious company, which had been given a contract to supply the Office of the President with vehicles in 2001. The company was forced to pay back the $910,000 (Sh66.4 million) it had been paid as "commitment" fees, when the fraudulent deal was unearthed.

The Sh3.7 billion in this latest contract is to build joint national security computer link, but is also referred to as the "Administration Police Dedicated Multi-Channel Networking Project".

The lead consultant in the project was Dr Merlyn Kettering, an associate of the Kamani family, who also played a key role in the passports and laboratory projects, including signing documents on behalf of Anglo Leasing.

By April last year, the Government had paid Sh859 million commitment fee as well as repayment of the loan, according to a document prepared by the Office of the President for a donor briefing.

The contract was signed on Saturday, May 29, 2003, but two years later and in spite the payment of nearly a billion shillings, the only work that had been done was the purchase of some materials consisting of galvanised towers and parts thereof, which were allegedly awaiting clearance at Mombasa in May last year.

In January last year, former Ethics permanent secretary John Githongo wrote to the Treasury, warning that Midland Finance, among other entities, do not exist where they are purportedly registered.

The fact that a number of the financing entities involved in the substantial and security-related contractual agreements with the Government do not exist is in and of itself a serious matter, because one can ask whether the contracts are valid at all. It also means that GoK has no legal recourse in case of non-performance, Mr Githongo warned.

In spite of that, in this year’s Budget, the Government has also set aside Sh2.2 billion to be paid to Schroeder & Co Bank of Switzerland, the same bank that was used by Anglo Leasing to wire back the Sh91 million commitment fee that the Government had paid for the passports projects.

The revelation that payments to fictitious companies and secretive banks have once again been put in the Budget – in the middle of an outcry over corruption – highlights a crisis in the secretive security and defence procurement sector.

It suggests that an inter-ministerial oversight mechanism put in place by President Kibaki in 2004 is either ineffective or complicit in suspicious tenders.

In June 2004, the head of the Public Service, Mr Francis Muthaura acknowledged in a Press statement that there were major weaknesses in the procurement system and accepted the Government had failed to vet the companies they were doing business with, as well as the way they were awarding tenders.

Mr Muthaura announced that the President had set up, under the Office of the President, an inter-ministerial committee comprising senior officials from the President’s office, the Treasury, Public Housing and the Attorney-General, to ensure that public finances are properly secured for projects with security classification worth more than Sh100 million."

The statement added: "The inter-ministerial committee will also review all active security contracts inherited from the previous Government.

In 2004, the Government set aside Sh4.8 billion for the repayment of foreign commercial loans, part of which was to go to service fictitious loans such as those from Anglo Leasing.

Under that model of contract, the foreign (fictitious) company would enter into an agreement to lend the Government money to buy security equipment at twice or three times the market price.

The Government would begin repayment long before the project was implemented, meaning it was carried out with the Government’s own money.

In effect, the Government will have lent a fictitious loan to itself – and paid interest on it.

A lot of the fraudulent payments are charged on the Consolidated Fund as foreign debt redemption or supplier’s credits and commercial loan debt service payments.

Some of the deals are not reflected in the Budget because, though the credit is long term, the Government would issue promissory notes for each repayment at the signing of the contract.

When these notes fall due, the creditor will automatically discount them and the Government’s foreign accounts will be debited. In other words, the payment will be made without Kenyans being any the wiser.

For example, in the 2001 project for Office of the President vehicles, awarded to the fictitious Silverson Establishment, the last promissory note was to fall due on August 17, 2014.

It means future generations would have had to pay for today’s corruption.

In 2004, Finance minister David Mwiraria said all the promissory notes issued to Anglo Leasing and Finance in respect of the passports projects had been returned.

But it remains unclear whether Anglo Leasing returned all promissory notes in respect of other projects, and precisely how many promissory notes the Government has issued to Anglo Leasing-type companies.

A meeting at Harambee House on January 14, 2004, was addressed by Dr Kettering – identified as a management consultant – and Mr J.N. Ng’ang’a, identified as a telecommunication consultant. It was chaired by the Administration Police Commandant, Mr Kinuthia Mbugua, and attended by representatives from the Department of Defence, Provincial Administration, the Kenya Wildlife Service, Communications Commission of Kenya and Kenya Prisons.

Making his pitch, Dr Kettering dwelt on the merits of sharing radio frequencies.

Minutes of the meeting show that the departments concerned were being introduced to a project for which they appear not to have expressed a need.

Yesterday, the Treasury PS Mr Kinyua, said of the project: "Not a single cent has been paid". He said the Treasury was waiting for the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission to finish its investigations and for the Controller and Auditor-General to complete his audit of all suspect security projects.

He went on: "Then we have to sit down and negotiate with human beings and not through letters or correspondence. If contract sums are inflated, we will renegotiate. If there is corruption, it will be dealt with by the relevant authorities."

Yesterday, the Nation established that Mr Ng’ang’a was overseeing an AP communications project in the Office of the President.

Last year, the AP received Sh250 million from the Governance Justice, Law and Order Sector (GJLOS) reform programme to, among other things, repair and update its communications network.

The money was meant to buy radios and vehicles for the force.

Mr Ng’ang’a is working on the technical specifications for the AP communications project that is envisaged to run into billions of shillings.

The AP was among the security forces which were to be covered under the united IT link.

The project killed off many other security forces communications projects, including that of the police, Prisons and Kenya Wildlife Services.

Due to public pressure over Anglo Leasing-related fraudulent contracts, the Mbugua committee, which had held seven meetings at which Mr Ng’ang’a and Dr Kettering played a part, appears to have been quietly wound up.

Speaking to the Nation yesterday, Mr Mbugua denied the existence of a new communications project for the Administration Police force and the hiring of Mr Ng’ang’a as a consultant.

He did however confirm that Sh250 million had been received from the GJLOS fund manager, the accounting firm KPMG.

He said APs were in dire need of a communications system since they had reverted to using their "rudimentary" system.

"We had hoped that through normal budgetary process and police reform programme, we would improve our communication system, but this did not happen," Mr Mbugua added.

He said his force would put in a request for a communications system next year.

He appeared unaware that Sh3.7 billion was already in the current Budget to benefit his department.

[aeichener]

Job:
The board administrator's admonishment was directed not just to Miguna, but to everybody.
That includes you, I would say.

Alexander

[job]

Alexander,

Are you keen on taking over the administrators job or you just feel you're more competent to vet articles than he's currently doing. Keep debating with yourself on such sideshows,........ and one-liners.....

Meanwhile, the condemnation of corruption (referred to as NOISE by others) will continue without waivering,......

here's another piece (not my original work). Just pass it for the mirror, if you wish.....


From THE ECONOMIST

CAUGHT IN THE ACT.
-------------------------
Jan 26th 2006 | NAIROBI AND OXFORD
From The Economist print edition


A courageous investigator uncovers more corruption in Kenya. But will the government, or the country's president, be shamed into taking action? Hot stuff from Githongo .
........................................................................................................................

IT BEGAN in early 2003 with a second-hand car. Though battered by Nairobi's bad roads, its owner, a top Kenyan civil servant, was trying to sell it as new to his chum's ministry. It was a small scam. But John Githongo, the permanent secretary for ethics and governance in the newly-elected government of Mwai Kibaki, feared worse was to come. This was the sort of impunity Mr Kibaki had sworn to end, after replacing the kleptocratic regime of a veteran dictator, Daniel arap Moi.

Mr Githongo, an expert on corruption and a former Nairobi correspondent for The Economist, was correct. Over the next two years, he watched as the government emulated its crooked predecessor. He alleges it signed $300m-worth of dubious or fraudulent contracts in the security sector alone. It also inherited $400m-worth of such contracts from Mr Moi's government, and honoured them. Mr Kibaki's most trusted ministers told Mr Githongo the cash was needed to smooth the passage of a new constitution—which Kenyans rejected in a referendum in November—and to win elections due next year.

Mr Githongo fled to Oxford University last February, after receiving death threats. In November, he sent a 36-page summary of his investigations to Mr Kibaki—whom he had briefed on them during his time in office—and to the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC), a hitherto ineffective investigative body. When neither responded, Mr Githongo passed his dossier to a Kenyan newspaper, the Daily Nation; on January 22nd it began exposing the contents. Perhaps not coincidentally, the KACC had stirred itself a few days before, summoning 30 people for questioning, including the vice-president, Moody Awori, and two ministers fingered in Mr Githongo's dossier. Western diplomats in Nairobi, who for years had watched Kenyan politicians gobble aid money, briefed foreign journalists on the scandal. The furore has been impressive.

On radio and television, Kenyans lambasted Mr Kibaki and his inner circle—all of them members of his Kikuyu group and known as the “Mount Kenya mafia”. Opposition politicians, predictably, urged the government to resign. That is unlikely to happen, not least because Kenyan MPs are among the world's best-paid. But Mr Kibaki, of whom Kenyans expected much, looks weak and discredited. His Rainbow Coalition had already split during the referendum campaign; its non-Kikuyu members, led by an adept populist, Raila Odinga, a Luo, have formed a new opposition alliance. And Mr Kibaki is now accused of failing to stop massive fraud, or hunt the perpetrators. Referring to the scams outlined in his dossier, Mr Githongo said the president “was briefed about these issues all along.” His revelations provide a unique insight into top-level looting in one of the world's most corrupt countries.

Corruption in Kenya is not natural-resource driven, as in other African countries. The Goldenberg scandal, which cost Kenya perhaps $1 billion in the 1990s, involved the illegal export of fictitious gold and diamonds, not real ones. At high levels, corruption involves ministers and civil servants paying as much state cash as possible for shoddy goods or services never rendered.

Shoddiness is the key. Kenyans' weary tolerance of third-rate goods allows large margins on corrupt deals. This is especially true of arterial transport. The road from Mombasa, on the Indian Ocean, to Kampala, Uganda's capital, is potholed and dangerous. The rolling stock of the railway running along the same route has not been upgraded for decades, despite frequent infusions of government cash. Such is the general decrepitude of the state, and rapacious fleecing of businesses by the bureaucracy, that it costs more to ship a tonne of grain from Mombasa to Kampala than from Chicago to Mombasa.

Dishing the dirt
.......................
Central to Mr Githongo's allegations is a contract negotiated in December 2003 by senior civil servants, to pay $37m for secure passport equipment, previously valued at $10m. The deal was to be financed, at 4% interest, and the equipment obtained by a company registered in Britain, Anglo Leasing and Finance (ALF). By early 2004, the government had paid ALF $1.17m on this contract. In 2001, Mr Moi's regime had signed another contract with ALF, to finance and obtain a forensic police laboratory for $59m. Though no work had been done on the laboratories, the government had paid ALF $5m on this deal.

Alerted to the two deals in April 2004, Mr Githongo swiftly established that the company did not, in fact, exist at the three addresses given for it in Britain and Switzerland, and that no Kenyan official involved in the deals admitted to knowing the identity of the company's directors or investors.

At an address given for the company in Liverpool was a small property company, Saagar Associates, which was owned by a member of the Asian-Kenyan Kamani family, with strong business links to Mr Moi's regime. Another company owned by members of the family had gained notoriety for providing the Kenyan police with 1,000 crummy Mahindra jeeps at inflated prices. Saagar Associates claimed to represent ALF; one of its directors had signed contracts on ALF's behalf.

Mr Githongo briefed Mr Kibaki on his investigations. His dossier records him informing the president that some of his closest advisers were prime suspects in the affair. Then in early May an odd thing happened: the money paid to ALF was repaid to the central bank. Several weeks later, a Swiss man, Michel Gruring, who said he was ALF's managing director, announced that the contracts had been cancelled.

Shortly after, $6.3m was repaid to the central bank by a company called Infotalent Ltd, which had been contracted to provide communications kit to the police, and about which Mr Githongo had made preliminary inquiries. Mr Githongo alleges it was also a shell company. In July, another company, Silverson Forensic, repaid $910,000 from a bank in Liechtenstein, and cancelled a contract to finance and supply police vehicles.

Mr Githongo says he was told that both repayments were made after the government contacted a prominent Nairobi businessman.
Whoever was behind the contracts had hit on quite a clever scam. By entering into a contract with an entity that did not, in any real way, exist, the government had no legal recourse if its promised goods or services did not arrive.

Moreover, it ensured the government would be obliged to service its “debt” to the company, though it had received nothing in return, and though the company had not, in fact, extended any finance on its behalf. In effect, the government was paying interest on loans to itself, in order to secure goods or services at inflated prices. Crucial to the model's success were the unscrupulous businessmen who registered the bogus companies and handled the cash.

Though pleased, no doubt, to have recovered $12m of public funds, Mr Githongo had reason to stay zealous. On May 14th 2004, around the time ALF began repaying, the governor of the central bank, Andrew Mullei, wrote to a civil servant in the finance ministry, Francis Oyula, seeking confirmation that he should continue making payments on $600m-worth of contracts in the security sector, signed with 17 companies between late 2001 and early 2004, including ALF. Mr Oyula replied authorising payments on most of the contracts and promising further authorisations.

According to Mr Githongo, several of the companies were mere shells, like ALF. Others existed, but the government had promised to pay well over the odds for their goods. One of these was allegedly a foreign company contracted to supply a naval vessel for $57m, which had subcontracted the task to a Spanish ship-builder. The ship, according to one diplomat in Nairobi, is little more than “a civilian ship with grey paint.”

Mr Githongo says he was informed on several occasions by the then justice minister, Kiraitu Murungi, that senior members of the government were behind the ALF scam and others; Mr Murungi allegedly told him that the culprits were, in short, the government itself. He said the minister claimed the money would be used to fund election campaigns, and was being managed by Chris Murungaru, the then minister for internal security.

According to Mr Githongo, Mr Murungi urged him to end one of his investigations. If he did so, Mr Murungi allegedly suggested, a debt held by Mr Githongo's father with a local businessman, whom Mr Githongo was investigating, would be forgiven. Mr Murungi denies all this. He said this week that he was not involved in the ALF contracts; did not try to impede Mr Githongo; and did not tell him that money from graft would be used to fund vote campaigns.

Mr Githongo has not accused Mr Kibaki of direct involvement in the fraud, but alleges that he must have been aware of it. Even after many detailed briefings from Mr Githongo, Mr Kibaki said publicly that he had seen no evidence of top-level corruption. Mr Githongo resigned on January 24th 2005, while in Britain; he had received several anonymous death threats.

Last year, two senior civil servants implicated in the scandal were sacked and charged with corruption. Mr Murungaru was dropped from the cabinet after Britain and America revoked his visas; a former British high commissioner to Kenya, Sir Edward Clay, had earlier accused Mr Kibaki's government of behaving “like gluttons” and “vomiting on the shoes” of foreign donors. Mr Murungi, who has denied that ALF was in any way a scandal, was made energy minister in a cabinet reshuffle in December, by which time Mr Kibaki had already received Mr Githongo's dossier.

Though badly damaged, Mr Kibaki could perhaps salvage some respectability by removing those fingered by Mr Githongo. If not, foreign donors in Nairobi speak of “fiscal consequences”, possibly including the obstruction of loans and grants that keep the government afloat. If nothing else, Mr Kibaki and his circle will almost certainly be punished by the voters in next year's election, just as their corruption cost them dearly in the constitution referendum. If those at the top do not much mind thieving politicians, ordinary Kenyans, with homes and school fees to pay for, increasingly do.

[job]

THE ECONOMIST EDITORIAL,

VOTING OUT CORRUPTION

Jan 26th 2006
From The Economist print edition
Inspiring Kenyans to demand better government than Mwai Kibaki is giving them
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GUESS what? Another African government, having stirred great hopes for change, turns out disastrously.

Investigations by John Githongo, an expert on graft and a former correspondent for The Economist, suggest that the government of Mwai Kibaki in Kenya is as corrupt as the kleptocratic regime of Daniel arap Moi that it replaced (see article). Mr Githongo had been hired by Mr Kibaki to combat graft, but fled Kenya last year after receiving death threats. As newspapers in Kenya reported this week, he claims to have discovered ministers looting millions of dollars. They allegedly told him the money was needed to ensure success in elections.

As false dawns go, Mr Kibaki's government had looked particularly rosy-fingered. It came to power in 2002 by tapping enthusiasm for democracy and reform. For once united, poor Kenyans, from a panoply of tribes, voted out a party that had ruled them ruinously since independence in 1963. Mr Kibaki declared a war on corruption, and his first shots told. Crooked judges and heads of state-run companies were sacked.

An investigation began into a complicated scam of the early 1990s, the Goldenberg affair, in which perhaps a billion dollars were lost. Kenyans embraced the change. A decrease in petty corruption was recorded across the country. After a minister found a bag of cash in his office, it was rumoured, he rushed to return it to the businessman who had left it there.

Yet the old cycle soon resumed. Petty graft rebounded. Mr Kibaki stopped denouncing corruption. An official report on the Goldenberg affair has not yet been published. Mr Kibaki's ministers, after all, had learned their trade under Mr Moi's tribally-divisive regime. They appear to have entered politics to make money for themselves and their hangers-on. When they reached the trough, they gorged. In an effort to remain there, they gorged more. None expected Mr Githongo to object. After all, he is a member of the president's own tribe.

But Mr Kibaki's government ignored a fatal flaw in the political method of Mr Moi. His regime was eventually voted out. Mr Kibaki took his own, less serious, rebuke recently, in a referendum on a draft constitution that would have shored up his powers. Before the vote, his supporters cast their bribes freely. But Kenyans still voted NO.

It was not always so. In the 1990s, when multi-party democracy was reintroduced to Kenya after a long pause, Mr Moi's party won two elections through rigging and by inciting the tribes to fight each other. To foot the bill, top-level corruption boomed. Thousands were killed in tribal clashes.

But Kenyans now understand democracy better. Mobile phones and private radio stations have given them a freer voice. A robust free press, including the newspaper that published Mr Githongo's allegations, has also helped. A growing urban middle class is more determined to hold leaders to account.

Kenya has changed, and its politicians need to change too. In response to the latest allegations, Kenya's anti-corruption authority, a toothless investigative body that has not instigated a notable conviction, has summoned 30 officials.

To restore his reputation, Mr Kibaki should award it prosecutorial powers. Any minister or civil servant involved in graft must be sacked. Mr Githongo should be welcomed back to Kenya, his security assured, to give an open account of his investigations.

Failing this, Mr Kibaki can expect Kenyans to dismiss him at an election due next year. A new opposition alliance is already waiting. Naturally, it pledges to fight corruption.

[aeichener]

job said:

Alexander,
Are you keen on taking over the administrators job

Nah... I am merely keen to remind you of your slightly off-track posting behaviour, when you are only regurgitating foreign articles, instead of posting contributions of your own, which would certainly be welcome.

or you just feel you're more competent to vet articles than he's currently doing.

I feel I am merely more competent than your inner voice of conscience apparently is, when it comes to remind you of the following reasonable suggestion:

Can we all go easy on the penchant for reposting verbatim, chunks of news articles lifted from other media?
Perhaps a link and a short excerpt would suffice.

You might wish to consider it, rather than to play the stubborn child. The role does not suit you particularly, IMO. You could do better.

Alexander

[job]

Alexander,

Ignore trivialities and Contribute to the topic please. If you don't find any posted article worthy reading, just pass it,.......simply ignore it.

I welcome your self assessment of your conscience and self-arrogation of its importance vis-a vis mine. I noted your self proclaimed attitude displaying your percieved omnipotence.

To quote you " I feel I am more competent than your inner voice of conscience apparently is,......."

Well, keep feeling that way,........but don't forget to seriously seek help.

Self examine yourself seriously with regard to the following;

Extreme Obsession with oneself, repeated and relentless attempts to sound too cerebral, ............always trying to correct everyones mistakes (or percieved mistakes), exeggerated feelings of grandiosity and self-importance, .....................offering unsolicited advice to everyone including strangers met online, feelings of uniqueness or being too special, ...............occasionally grading other peoples opinions, style or writing& posting habits while ignoring the subject matter, ...........egotistic pursuit of glorification even when you're way off the topic at hand, ...............always trying to have the last word in any discussion or argument, however ridiculous it may sound, .............repeatedly having to be reminded to stick to the subject matter whenever in debate (meaning having a racing/unsettled mind with a flight of ideas, that can't concentrate on one subject), ...............and occasionaly feeling unappreciated, or unnoticed by Job, Miguna or anyother person in this forum for that matter.

That in itself is enough cause of worry,...other than worry about someone's posting of a relevant Corruption article from The Economist, or The Guardian that you don't like.

Posting other peoples works is not a bad thing my pal,........ read research, academic or professional works, journals, Theses, Dissertations etc, and prove,....,.............. the use of other peoples articles, so long as its source is revealed, to support your argument/point is respected,.......................it doesn't sound ridiculous as you're trying to imagine......
,............ that shouldn't bother you so long as you have your original and concurring arguments. It is just common. It wouldn't IRRITATE anyone to read a posted article from Say The Guardian, as such.

My buddy you're engaging in unlimited fantasies. Come back to the world,......... and to this forum,......and to the discussion topic above,............discuss the subject matter,........ignore any posts that you may not like,....as simple as that,.........otherwise if it is an obsessively compulsive requirement in your mind that you have to remind me & everybody else you met online,........to do things the way you may like them done,......then you may be in for some surprising & chronic devastation of the mind. But for me, I rest my case and let you continue the debate with yourself for now if you so wish,....mark these words,....you will be reminded.

stay the course of the topic.

unedited.
job.

[aeichener]

Obsessive need to discuss and problematize norms and rules, even if they are only offered as gentle "suggestion" - just your problem.

Stuffing the board with foreign content that should better be hyperlinked (or quoted in relevant parts, where applicable), instead of own contributions - there it becomes the readers' (and the admin's) problem.

You got to learn social competence.

[miguna]

Job,

Apart from the obvious maladies you've competently diagnosed, there is also the inferiority complex exhibited by the penchant to insert Latin phrases wherever or whenever he runs out of relevant or original ideas [that is, assuming that those idiotic quips are generously termed "relevant ideas".]. I've actually not seen anything original this fool has posted. The best treatment is to totally ignore the moron. He cannot write, reason or debate anyway. So, why bother?

As you've correctly stated, if he could write, debate or reason coherently, people would have long noticed these qualities - he does not need to remind "us" of them. If he had half the brains, as he keeps harping, he would have learnt that intelligent people don't announce the size of their brains. There is no need to bore us with Latin; the prestige disappeared when nincompoops like Kamau Kuria started taking refuge in Latin phrases whenever he couldn't utter comprehensive statements...

Plain English/writing is the reigning currency of all reputable modern scholarship! You see Job, these High School students that found themselves suddenly parachuted into Law School [after many of them had cheated in Kenyan Exams] without the necessary intellectual weaning process [as happens in other jurisdictions like North America - where one has to have undergraduate or graduate degrees before undertaking professional studies] completely forgot that one cannot substitute intelligence or coherence with Latin. You are either intelligent and coherent - and people will notice this without prompting - or you are an idiot with Latin phrases, which are plastered as fads rather than for clarity.

The idiot does not understand basic ideas, theories, philosophies, leave alone complex ones. It is not his fault. We should not expect him to know the difference. Didn't you notice how ridiculous he sounded when he kept insisting that "publishing" is "printing" and that one cannot publish except through Managing Directors, Editors, etc? Can you imagine? And the man claims to be a lawyer? Phew! Did you not also notice that he did not know the meaning of simple English words? Well, but maybe, like Kiraitu, he can hardly PRONOUNCE them either. Let's forgibe him. He needs our pity & sympathy.

Ignore the fool Job....That's his medicine. Of course, he still has to keep on taking his other medication.

[unedited]

-Miguna-

[Onyango Oloo]

So far this forum has remained insult free.

Let us keep it that way.

Onyango Oloo
JUKWAA Administrator
Bouznika, Morocco

[Onyango Oloo]

Posted By: bakhoki
Date Posted: 26/01/2006 at 3:27am

@oo,

You raise several very pertinent points in your essay. I will, however, comment on three of them.

First, it is obvious that the State has seen it wise to pick the Goldenberg Reports from the dusty shelf where it has been shelved for the last eighteen months for a reason. That reason is obviously John Githongo's earth-shattering expose about Anglo-Leasing. Githongo has exposed the filth and corruption that pervades the inner sanctum of Kiibaki's Old Boy Network and State House.

Secondly, I do agree with you that the Kiibakists spread themselves too thin fighting myriad enemies: Railla and L D P; Uhuru and KANU; and, Westrn Donors. The problem as I see it is not whether one should or shouldn't fight all these battles all at once, but rather that Kiibaki's boys were and are bereft of the intellectual, organizational and strategic acumen to meet all these challenges simultaneously.

Lastly, I love your observation about the prevailing situation in Central Province which I can sum thus: comprador vs. bourgoisie vs. peasant/worker class.

[miguna]

Oloo,

I agree with you. However, I am not so sure whether you consider the "insults" Job and I, in particular, have had to contend with from the "madman". Yes, I call him mad, and that, as far as I'm concerned, is well deserved. If he does not want to be insulted, he must refrain from doing so himself. No one is immune. I look forward to issue oriented and focused discussions. But no one should think that we are incapable of a tit for tat...

[unedited]-Miguna-

[aeichener]

What the admin and I have asked you to do, Miguna, is not much:

Keep your keyboard halfway clean, and follow some basic rules of decency (like, not flooding a board like a stubborn child with a stream of unaltered and unexcerpted foreign material, in flagrant breach of copyright by the way, thereby jeopardizing the position of your gracious host). That you consider either suggestion as an "INSULT", is a remarkable testimony of your mindset.

If you are not able to do either, then leave the board - leave it NOW - and impose yourself upon some village market. And try to avoid the rotten oranges and squished tomatoes that probably will soon be pelted into your direction...

Alexander

[abdulmote]

Guys,

In all honesty, this is bringing shame upon all of us! There is absolutely no need for it. It does not help neither party but only lowers our overall esteem and standing.

This site is the only one remaining where some sense is strictly and wholly expected out of the postings herein. Hardly any other exists which is of the same calibre. It will certainly be a shame if any one were to contribute towards its potential degeneration as can be seen.

Please refrain and so maintain your heads held high as always had been.