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Post by mzee on Dec 1, 2011 17:01:36 GMT 3
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Post by mzee on Dec 1, 2011 17:04:25 GMT 3
Interestingly Omogeni who topped in the interview was not nominated. Whats the point of having the selection process if the two principals do not adhere to it?
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A former Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) commissioner Mumo Matemu has been nominated to head the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga also named Jane Onsongo and Irene Keino as members to the anti-graft body.
The three nominees will be vetted by Parliament before formal apointment.
The new Commission will take over from the defunct Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, which was wound up following the enactment of the EACC Act in line with the Constitution.
The EACC will be responsible for investigating corruption in the country and will also clear persons seeking appointive and elective public offices.
The EACC selection panel had forwarded the names of the current chairman of the anti-graft advisory board Okong’o Mogeni, Mr Matemu and Economist Sarah Kilemi.
Mr Mogeni was dropped despite coming top in the interviews.
He scored 81.7 followed by Mr Matemu with 78.4 and Dr Kilemi with 78.1.
The panel chaired by Rose Mambo also forwarded the names of Prof Onsongo, Polycarp Ochillo, Francis Shaw and Ms Keino in order of merit to be considered for the two positions of members.
Former KACC director Prof Patrick Lumumba’s tenure as anti corruption boss was cut short after just a year in office at a time when he claimed that an assistant minister had tried to bribe him.
Prof Lumumba and the other four commissioners at the anti-graft body were sent packing within a week after the bribery claims
by DN
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Post by roughrider on Dec 1, 2011 17:25:45 GMT 3
Interestingly Omogeni who topped in the interview was not nominated. What the point of havig the selection process if the two principals do not adhere to it? It appears that there were other 'considerations'. But this is happening regularly now... and there is hardly any consistency or predictability. In the case of Maria Nzomo, she was left out in a similar manner but Mr. Isaack Hassan was confirmed as IEBC chief having emerged top. I think the law allows the principals to choose whomever they please among the recommended candidates. Ultimately, they should exercise this discretion sparingly. My fear with this candidate is the KRA history. KRA is a den of high level thievery led by senior executives. If they couldn't slay the dragon there, what makes us think he'll be any different at Integrity centre. All said, good riddance to the chatterbox, PLO. |
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Post by adongo23456 on Dec 1, 2011 18:04:33 GMT 3
Folks,
This guy actually is going to be a figure head. He is taking the same job Okong'o Omogeni has as chair of the Board of KACC. Now they have renamed the board as a Commission. The lazy media and gullible Kenyans are made to think this guy is replacing Lumumba. He is not. The EACC will have to put in place, a process to appoint the Director of the EACC who is the person who will do the actual investigations and prosecutions. Wake me up when that happens.
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Post by destiny on Dec 1, 2011 18:10:51 GMT 3
Who cares! Nothing will change whatsoever and we all know it even if they choose a real Saint for the KACC hot seat or whatever the organization is being called this week.
Without political will to fight graft we might as well keep dreaming. The truth is that Kibaki and Raila couldn't possibly care whether the Treasury is stripped dry. Baba Jimmy has been busy sneaking corrupt ministers back in power whenever amnesia hits poor Kenyans.
And the game goes on unchecked despite all the briefings the big two get. By commission or omission Kibaki and Raila are both guilty as charged, they have let down a generation of debt riddled Kenyans.
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Post by mzee on Dec 1, 2011 18:26:40 GMT 3
Folks, This guy actually is going to be a figure head. He is taking the same job Okong'o Omogeni has as chair of the Board of KACC. Now they have renamed the board as a Commission. The lazy media and gullible Kenyans are made to think this guy is replacing Lumumba. He is not. The EACC will have to put in place, a process to appoint the Director of the EACC who is the person who will do the actual investigations and prosecutions. Wake me up when that happens. Is this true? Do you mean that he is not replacing PLO? Well, then I have been ran amok by the media for I thought he was replacing the talkative prof. |
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Post by mwalimumkuu on Dec 1, 2011 19:36:33 GMT 3
Who cares! Nothing will change whatsoever and we all know it even if they choose a real Saint for the KACC hot seat or whatever the organization is being called this week. Without political will to fight graft we might as well keep dreaming. The truth is that Kibaki and Raila couldn't possibly care whether the Treasury is stripped dry. Baba Jimmy has been busy sneaking corrupt ministers back in power whenever amnesia hits poor Kenyans. And the game goes on unchecked despite all the briefings the big two get. By commission or omission Kibaki and Raila are both guilty as charged, they have let down a generation of debt riddled Kenyans. You sound so pessimistic. You had better consult a one Omwenga, he is deep in hope and prayer over this issue. |
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Post by adongo23456 on Dec 1, 2011 20:20:11 GMT 3
Folks, This guy actually is going to be a figure head. He is taking the same job Okong'o Omogeni has as chair of the Board of KACC. Now they have renamed the board as a Commission. The lazy media and gullible Kenyans are made to think this guy is replacing Lumumba. He is not. The EACC will have to put in place, a process to appoint the Director of the EACC who is the person who will do the actual investigations and prosecutions. Wake me up when that happens. Is this true? Do you mean that he is not replacing PLO? Well, then I have been ran amok by the media for I thought he was replacing the talkative prof. Yes Mzee, our media is incredibly lazy and ill informed. This guy is the chairman of the commission which has four other commissioners including his Vice Chair. Lumumba was the Director of the KACC. This body will institute a process to appoint a new director of the EACC who will take over from Lumumba. That is my understanding. I could be wrong of course. |
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Post by kamalet on Dec 3, 2011 10:08:31 GMT 3
Actually there will be no Director as Adongo suggests.
However, there will be a Secretary to the Commission who will report to the Commission and will be the CEO and accounting officer for the Commission. When looked at against the previous role played by the for Lumumba commission, the power seems to lie in the commission in deciding what happens.
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Post by Omwenga on Dec 15, 2011 2:58:49 GMT 3
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Post by job on Dec 15, 2011 5:37:38 GMT 3
Omwenga,The code phrase can be found in this little excerpt below:Sources revealed Matemu’s nomination got into trouble after a lobby group reportedly drew the attention of the committee to the fact that during his tenure as Commissioner of Customs and Excise Department, he failed to enforce a court order surcharging a tyre company Sh2.4 billion due to the Exchequer. By insinuation, it looks like Matemu is part and parcel of the longstanding corruption network. He somehow walked silently to the nomination with little hullabaloo...until the lobby group exposed him to the Parliamentarians. I laud the stealth vetting. It must continue unabated. As former Customs boss, Matemu must have a chequered history. He is likely to have had his palms greased by the owners of the infamous, tax-evading tyre company associated with the drug Kingpins. No wonder State House is pretty comfortable with this insider fella. Talk of Anti-Corruption and a new Constitution! Kibaki is really taking Kenyans for a ride. Tis still not the season of real reforms!
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Post by adongo23456 on Dec 15, 2011 21:57:47 GMT 3
job, I smell a rat. The debate is smoking in parliament. It seems the committee, remember the dysfunctional Legal Affairs Committee that tried to smuggle Kibaki's judicial appointtees, it seems they were playing games. Officially they said they have rejected Matemu and others but in parliament they tried to supress the evidence of Matemu's "gentleman's deal" with Kingsway not to collect taxes even after the company had offered to pay. The committee hid that information and tried to argue about the nominees lacking passion(a very stupid argument if you ask me). It seems the idea was to present a weak case in parliament and let the M.Ps vote to accept the nominees. Khalwale seems to have messed everything. He got a sworn affidavit regarding the crooked activities of Matemu and have tabled them in parliament. Here we go: www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/Acrimony+as+House+debates+anti+graft+nominees/-/1064/1289972/-/item/0/-/n82ksez/-/index.html |
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Post by adongo23456 on Dec 16, 2011 0:49:16 GMT 3
Yap, the war on corruption is now officially dead and buried. I think it is going to be party time for those who have been swimming in corruption. Those who were wondering why Kibaki insisted on this matemu dude now know why. The man is a corrupt crook who brazenly made deals with Kingsway to avoid taxes. To even have this crook sitting somewhere in Integrity House is an insult to Kenyans. I am embarrassed for the likes of Shabesh who want to to be seen as the descent new generation of politicians. Her argument about women and their night passion is a testament of the low level debate in Bunge. This man was chosen specifically to protect the thieves. And those who think he will only protect Kibaki thieves are the big losers. He will protect all thieves. They are going to be safe for a while but we will catch up with them. Here is the Standard version which leaves no doubt that Matemu is a thief whose activities has directlycaused Kenyan tax payers Kshs 2.4 billion. If he gets appointed he will face a lot of battle in the courts: Here we go: www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000048412&cid=4&ttl=Showdown%20in%20House%20over%20graft%20nomineesThe one big question is where is the KRA Commissioner in all these? How did the KRA allow Matemu to stop Kingsway from paying taxes after a court ruling? What has the KRA Commissioner done about this Kingsway saga of direct robbery of tax payer money? What can ordinary Kenyans do to deal with this matter and recover the money? |
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Post by b6k on Dec 16, 2011 6:16:29 GMT 3
Tsk tsk. Adongo the article you quote mentions twice that the list was endorsed by both Kibaki & Raila. Somehow you deem it fit to mention this Matemu fellow as a Kibaki appointee forgetting Raila also said tosha. Granted you do say he (Matemu) will protect ALL thieves but you are not honest enough to say at least half of the thieves will be Raila's.
Destiny's pessimism is the most realistic stand on this thread. The sooner we admit the fight against corruption is dead in the water across the political divide the better. The principals are content to strip the Treasury dry as long as their team have their snouts in the trough.
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Post by kamalet on Dec 16, 2011 13:02:33 GMT 3
Tsk tsk. Adongo the article you quote mentions twice that the list was endorsed by both Kibaki & Raila. Somehow you deem it fit to mention this Matemu fellow as a Kibaki appointee forgetting Raila also said tosha. Granted you do say he (Matemu) will protect ALL thieves but you are not honest enough to say at least half of the thieves will be Raila's. Destiny's pessimism is the most realistic stand on this thread. The sooner we admit the fight against corruption is dead in the water across the political divide the better. The principals are content to strip the Treasury dry as long as their team have their snouts in the trough. Somethings just make me laugh! Why the hullabaloo about a head of the anti-corruption unit? If you ask me, corruption is not actually the biggest ill in Kenya. You will perhaps find corruption in the lands ministry, immigration or the police - where people are paid to do what they are employed for. Kenya's bigger problem is THEFT. Now theft is certainly not corruption so it would be grossly misplaced to pay more attention to the indiscretions of minor functionaries in government when the bigger losses under theft get fill coverage from conviction when routed through the anti-corruption commission! |
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Post by adongo23456 on Dec 16, 2011 17:58:17 GMT 3
Tsk tsk. Adongo the article you quote mentions twice that the list was endorsed by both Kibaki & Raila. Somehow you deem it fit to mention this Matemu fellow as a Kibaki appointee forgetting Raila also said tosha. Granted you do say he (Matemu) will protect ALL thieves but you are not honest enough to say at least half of the thieves will be Raila's. Destiny's pessimism is the most realistic stand on this thread. The sooner we admit the fight against corruption is dead in the water across the political divide the better. The principals are content to strip the Treasury dry as long as their team have their snouts in the trough. Somethings just make me laugh! Why the hullabaloo about a head of the anti-corruption unit? If you ask me, corruption is not actually the biggest ill in Kenya. You will perhaps find corruption in the lands ministry, immigration or the police - where people are paid to do what they are employed for. Kenya's bigger problem is THEFT. Now theft is certainly not corruption so it would be grossly misplaced to pay more attention to the indiscretions of minor functionaries in government when the bigger losses under theft get fill coverage from conviction when routed through the anti-corruption commission! Oh no. Now corruption is not a problem in Kenya. I guess that means it is better to put a crook already involved in corrupt dealings in charge of the fake war. So we do not need to worry about corruption, lets just focus on THEFT. Oh you chicken thieves out there be afraid. Be very afraid. The Kenyan government will not rest until all of you are in jail and the poor chickens can roam the land without fear. Just when you thought you have heard it all someone comes up with this kind of ideas. How lucky we must be fellow Kenyans. God loves US. Oh yes "HE" does. |
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Post by destiny on Dec 16, 2011 18:50:12 GMT 3
Let's flashback kidogo into the past bosses of this haunted office which has been used to do only two things: Cover big time corruption and screw Kenyans.
Harun Mwau- Eventually named as a drug kingpin by American Govt and internal security minister George Saitoti.
Ringera- Asked Kenyans to pray so as to get rid of corruption.
PLO Lumumba- Conned his way briefly to the top seat by pretending to speak like Martin Luther, his preferred mode of fighting corruption was to join demonstrations while dishing out hundreds of useless speeches. He famously took harambee "donations" from suspects and wined and dined with Moi while being some sort of a patron of his bogus foundation.
Matemu- False start, product of horse trading between Principals, was second best, came from the right tribe, implicated in a multi billion scam, looks like DOA (Dead on arrival)
And the circus continues at our expense while after all these decades, no big fish has been caught by the white elephant that is KACC!
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Post by jakaswanga on Dec 16, 2011 20:10:19 GMT 3
Tsk tsk. Adongo the article you quote mentions twice that the list was endorsed by both Kibaki & Raila. Somehow you deem it fit to mention this Matemu fellow as a Kibaki appointee forgetting Raila also said tosha. Granted you do say he (Matemu) will protect ALL thieves but you are not honest enough to say at least half of the thieves will be Raila's. Destiny's pessimism is the most realistic stand on this thread. The sooner we admit the fight against corruption is dead in the water across the political divide the better. The principals are content to strip the Treasury dry as long as their team have their snouts in the trough. , Personally I admitted long ago to myself this elite will not do it. That Githong'o remains a pariah seals the case. Further, I thump my chest for not having been fooled for one moment! When I saw the man to broker a deal was one Koffi Annan, I knew Wanjiku was sold down the drain, and predicted a feeding frenzy at the treasury coordinated by the two principal dons. If we had gotten Cyril Ramaphosa, trust me your jaw would have dropped permanently in shock, as you saw what tough, competent negotiators do. Annan I knew from Congo and Rwanda where he quashed all reports and covered up a genocide, and did not coseder the interests of the population in any measure! And in what remains of former Bosnia-Hercegovina, they turn their noses at his name. His character is wishy-washy, and he has political debts that make him a puppet. Amos Wako could run rings around him. And did. Wako has since all but admitted toying around with and intertaining himself with the Ghanian ex world top diplomat. But Ramaphosa would have been a man from hell. This is the sherriff who faced down Gerry Adams of Sinn Feinand his deputy Martin McGuinness, the de facto commander of the IRA, in the days when he was to monitor the disarmanent of the said group in the Northern Ireland peace process. And on the other side, he called to order the british millitary and intelligence services who were interested in sabotaging the treaty for their own interests. His exploits in negotiating the transition from apartheid in South Africa I need not mention. I have since gathered the best thing Kibaki ever did for himself was to block the elevation of Cyril to a deal broker. As for me I have always consedered ODM the mirror image of PNU. All I have to do is choose whether Luo thieves and their allies serve the national and my interests better than Kikuyu thieves and their allies! Currently my position is both sides do not. But a hunchback must bear his burden! |
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Post by adongo23456 on Dec 16, 2011 23:23:53 GMT 3
Tsk tsk. Adongo the article you quote mentions twice that the list was endorsed by both Kibaki & Raila. Somehow you deem it fit to mention this Matemu fellow as a Kibaki appointee forgetting Raila also said tosha. Granted you do say he (Matemu) will protect ALL thieves but you are not honest enough to say at least half of the thieves will be Raila's. Destiny's pessimism is the most realistic stand on this thread. The sooner we admit the fight against corruption is dead in the water across the political divide the better. The principals are content to strip the Treasury dry as long as their team have their snouts in the trough. , Personally I admitted long ago to myself this elite will not do it. That Githong'o remains a pariah seals the case. Further, I thump my chest for not having been fooled for one moment! When I saw the man to broker a deal was one Koffi Annan, I knew Wanjiku was sold down the drain, and predicted a feeding frenzy at the treasury coordinated by the two principal dons. If we had gotten Cyril Ramaphosa, trust me your jaw would have dropped permanently in shock, as you saw what tough, competent negotiators do. Annan I knew from Congo and Rwanda where he quashed all reports and covered up a genocide, and did not coseder the interests of the population in any measure! And in what remains of former Bosnia-Hercegovina, they turn their noses at his name. His character is wishy-washy, and he has political debts that make him a puppet. Amos Wako could run rings around him. And did. Wako has since all but admitted toying around with and intertaining himself with the Ghanian ex world top diplomat. But Ramaphosa would have been a man from hell. This is the sherriff who faced down Gerry Adams of Sinn Feinand his deputy Martin McGuinness, the de facto commander of the IRA, in the days when he was to monitor the disarmanent of the said group in the Northern Ireland peace process. And on the other side, he called to order the british millitary and intelligence services who were interested in sabotaging the treaty for their own interests. His exploits in negotiating the transition from apartheid in South Africa I need not mention. I have since gathered the best thing Kibaki ever did for himself was to block the elevation of Cyril to a deal broker. As for me I have always consedered ODM the mirror image of PNU. All I have to do is choose whether Luo thieves and their allies serve the national and my interests better than Kikuyu thieves and their allies! Currently my position is both sides do not. But a hunchback must bear his burden! I think besides the diversions we are dealing with a very deadly issue here. The more details come out the more scary it looks. Is this how KRA plays games? Where is the Kshs 2.4 billion Kingsway was ordered to pay which they agreed to do? What is the KRA commissioner doing about this? If we can sort that out may be we can go back to talk about the principals and this and that. We have a thief in our hands and 2.4 billion reasons to demand answers. Here is what I am talking about: www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/Sh24+billion+bill+returns+to+haunt+taxman/-/1064/1290802/-/item/0/-/yw7pf6/-/index.htmlThe other strange thing is that the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee instead of presenting these facts in Parliament tried to cover up everything and came up with their lack of passion nonsense. Eti Matemu and others lack passion. The man seems to have a lot of passion in assisiting people stealing our money. That must count for something. The Committee should have come up straight and tell bunge Matemu's integrity is below zero. I also suspect that the idea of rejecting all three nominees was a cover up not to expose Matemu. There is no evidence of any wrong doing from the two other nominees. They should be accepted and Matemu thrown out. And for god's sakes lets quit the passion talk. |
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Post by Omwenga on Dec 17, 2011 1:27:07 GMT 3
As former Customs boss, Matemu must have a chequered history. He is likely to have had his palms greased by the owners of the infamous, tax-evading tyre company associated with the drug Kingpins. No wonder State House is pretty comfortable with this insider fella. Talk of Anti-Corruption and a new Constitution! Kibaki is really taking Kenyans for a ride. Tis still not the season of real reforms!Ditto. |
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Post by b6k on Dec 17, 2011 7:01:38 GMT 3
Kenya's bigger problem is THEFT. Now theft is certainly not corruption so it would be grossly misplaced to pay more attention to the indiscretions of minor functionaries in government when the bigger losses under theft get fill coverage from conviction when routed through the anti-corruption commission! Interesting. So this problem of theft just seeps out of nowhere like an underground spring? Clearly the fact that corrupt(ion) networks within government & the public service that play the system leads to theft eludes you. |
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Post by b6k on Dec 17, 2011 7:33:00 GMT 3
As for me I have always consedered ODM the mirror image of PNU. All I have to do is choose whether Luo thieves and their allies serve the national and my interests better than Kikuyu thieves and their allies! Jakaswanga, methinks that sums it up rather well. I've always argued the same thing although I refer to them as 2 sides of the same coin. The GCG may have had a rocky start but the reluctant bride & groom have since learned how to tango without stepping on each others toes. These chaps bring their A-game to the trough & I hazard a guess that they would've managed to run rings around Cyril as well if given the chance. The fact that they are still in power even after PEV, runaway inflation, rising cost of living & the near death of the shilling (which has shown a remarkable recovery) shows that Kenyans can withstand copious amounts of brown smelly stuff hitting the fan without demanding real & lasting change. Careful what you say though. Your comment above looks suspiciously like something NCIC can follow you up on ;D |
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Post by reporter911 on Dec 17, 2011 9:13:12 GMT 3
YUP AND THAT IS HOW THE TOUCH IS PASSED ON FROM CROOK TO CROOK.. OMAR WAS STATING FACTS!!ATI NOW HE IS BEING CALLED A TRIBALIST? DO THUGS AND CROOKS BELONG TO A TRIBES OR THEY ARE JUST THIEVES? MAYBE THEY SHOULD ALL FORM THEIR OWN THIEVING TRIBE..
No wonder they whisper in dark corners selecting who will protect their interests.. and opps!! another thieving crook is appointed to the key position...
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Post by job on Dec 18, 2011 0:55:20 GMT 3
This hullabaloo about purported "lack of passion" from the EACC nominees is nothing but a smokescreen. The House Committee is hiding the reality & truth why they are "rejecting" the nominee for Chairmanship of EACC, Mumo Matemu. They are indeed not rejecting Matemu, only pretending to be doing so. That's why they are using unconvincing logic, touted as lack of passion. The House Committee is trying to kill two birds with one stone (a) cover-up the toxic revelations about Matemu that they unearthed during their committee vetting - with the hope that Matemu would still win approval (b) absolve themselves (as a House Committee) from future blame for failing to properly vet the nominee (negligence and deriliction of duty). Only 1 or 2 Committee members are indeed genuine in their rejection of Mumo Matemu. From Thursday's Parliamentary Proceedings (recorded in the Hansard), nominated MP, George Nyamweya and Ikolomani MP Dr. Bonny Khalwale shed some discomforting illumination around Mr. Mumo Matemu's integrity and past record in office. It was Nyamweya who threw down the first gauntlet, by virtue of being both a member of the House Committee that vetted Matemu, and also a previous colleague at Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) where Nyamweya was boss. Nyamweya actually knows Matemu personally. He has known him for a while - since they were law students at the University of Nairobi, and later along their convergent career pathways (including at AFC). Nyamweya watched the AFC literally run down by Matemu (then Company Secretary) and a Mr. Gideon Toroitich. when politicians used the institution as a cash cow to secure loans they never repayed- all at the expense of farmers (see Sunday Nation's story). Nyamweya (on the House floor on Thursday), appeared at pains warning Kenyans: This is the most serious Commission that we can ever set up to deal with
the ethics and corruption in this country. There is no bigger threat to this country than
corruption. We lose over Kshs200 billion per year because of corruption. We are saying
that we must have faith in the person we want to entrust with that job.
Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I stood here not too long ago and raised
concerns that I did not think that Dr. P.L.O Lumumba was suitable. I was in the minority
but I did not shy away from discharging that responsibility and I am not going to shy
away that I am not satisfied. That is what the Committee has been asked to do. It has been
asked: “Are you satisfied? Have you looked at these people and interviewed them?” If
you are satisfied, tell the House: “We think that they are suitable.” If the House agrees
with us, fair enough! If they do not agree with us, that is also the responsibility of the
House. But for goodness sake, we must point out to Kenyans.
The House can, of course,
overturn us. That is quite in order, but we must also be aware that we have warned you
that this is not a suitable person for this job. That is why as much as the nominee is a very
well known person to me---- He is a colleague; he is lawyer like me, but I do not take that
sort of action with pleasure. I must clear my conscience that I am doing what I think is
suitable for the country. But it was Dr Bonny Khalwale who later gave a glimpse of the toxic dossier the House Committee was provided by concerned members of the public. Damning dossier exposing Matemu (then a Commissioner of Taxes at KRA) dabbling in the murky world of tax-evasion-by-a-tyre-company-associated-with-a-drug-baron; which the Committee decided to withhold from the public. Khalwale exposed that dossier in Parliament. Even those who would have wished to give Matemu the benefit of doubt would now be convinced otherwise after seeing the documents tabled by Khalwale. Should this Matemu fella get approved, he would turn out worse than Ringera and PLO Lumumba! He won't simply be a do-nothing decoy, but will infact bring in 'requisite experience' of hobnobbing with the networks of corruption. He's apparently a shark who's swam before with fellow corruption sharks. Isn't this a redux of the Moi era when Harun Mwau was appointed the anti-Corruption boss? Khalwale reminded Parliament of a vice previously reported (but ignored) by a former MP, Julius Arunga - who in the past sounded alarm bells about existence of tax-evading companies in Kenya. Hon. Arunga was then challenged to table names of such companies. He indeed took the gauntlet - naming them. And guess what? One of the companies he mentioned then was Kingsway Tyres and Auto Mart. Khalwale tabled past Hansard records to prove that. This history has come back to haunt Matemu and Kingsway Tyres. Khalwale clearly explained in Parliament that the House Committee actually put up advertisements inviting Kenyans to come forward and give reasons for or against the EACC nominees. On that basis, Khalwale tabled a sworn affidavit by a PATRIOTIC Kenyan who obliged and volunteered evidence before the Committee. The sworn affidavit was witnessed by well known Commissioners for Oaths. The brave gentleman, a Mr. Philip Jasper Wishaminya, had been denied an opportunity to appear before Parliament. In his affidavit, he declared that he had been commissioned by KRA to enforce a restraining order against Kingsway Tyres which had refused to pay Income Tax amounting to Kshs2.4 billion. What had happened is that, upon Kingsway's refusal to pay, the matter ended up in court. The High Court eventually granted KRA the authority to collect the Kshs 2.4 billion in tax arrears. In Mr Jasper's affidavit: Five years down the line, Mr. Mumo Matemu failed, was reluctant, ignored or refused to collect the Kshs2.4 billion in outstanding taxes from Kingsway Tyres and Auto Mart Limited, even with the support of a judgment from the High Court of Kenya. Khalwale tabled both the High Court Judgment and the Jasper's affidavit. He also tabled a set of documents from Kingsway Group of Companies. In the latter documents, Kingsway wrote on 28th September, 2004, to Matemu, making an undertaking to KRA to: come and collect from us (Kingsway Group) on a weekly basis Kshs1.5 million. Upon receipt of this document, KRA went ahead and commissioned an agent to collect, on their behalf, this Kshs1.5 million. The KRA agent was met by non-cooperation. When he failed to collect the cash, he dutifully locked up all the godowns belonging to Kingsway. Kingsway then rushed to their KRA pointman, withour surprise, the Tax Commissioner called Mumo Matemu. Kingsway and Matemu then began an abracadabra game of magicians pulling rabbits from hats. So called "gentlemen agreements" were pulled out from so called "round table discussions" promising to pay KRA the uncollected tax. The agreement was deposited in Matemu's in-box for monitoring and action.Well, Matemu indeed monitored, just to ensure Kingsway's non-compliance was silently abetted within KRA. The then Tax Commissioner Mr. Mumo Matemu completely refused to collect the tax dues from his impunity-loaded-and-well-connected friends at Kingsway. There could only be one plausible reason for Matemu's behaviour. Every Tom, Dick and Harry can see that the real problem with Matemu is - he was likely compromised by Kingsway Tyres, into refusing to obey the ourt order; refusing to collect taxes due to the people of Kenya; and refusing to follow up on the gentleman's agreement. With this chilling history of sitting pretty in Kingsway's pockets, why should Matemu now be entrusted with fighting corruption? Few other things to note in this fiasco. Most Ukambani MPs sprung up to support Matemu's nomination. Some women MPs (led by Rachel Shebesh) also sprung up to support the trio nominated, on the basis that two of them were women. As Khalwale appropriately posited of our patriarchial society- Corruption hurts women more than it hurts men. It hurts the children of women
more than it hurts men. Therefore, if we are committed to supporting the women of this
country, we must give them an authority that has gentlemen and ladies of impeccable
character. Another observation. Matemu's defenders without surprise, also crossed the line of Party allegiance. An ODM functionary like Otieno Kajwang' found no qualm in his former classmate Matemu's nomination. He defended Matemu as vigorously as their other classmate Njeru Githae (PNU). Interestingly, Kajwang' revealed that he indeed offered Matemu a job in his Immigration Ministry when the latter left KRA - must have been some "consultancy" job for a heck-uv some cash. Quite some interesting birds of a feather we have here! Corruption indeed crosses party, regional or tribal lines. Just comrade sharks swimming in the same waters, gobbling up all small fish, and covering each others' respective bottoms. This so called war on corruption ain't anywhere near being fought, leave alone being won! As some MPs pointed out during the debate, close to half of Kenya's budget (over Kshs 300 billion) is lost through corruption. That could stock medicines, build roads, dams and hospitals, pay decent salaries to doctors and teachers, and even provide tuition for Kenyan children all the way upto University. But then, this is Kenya! |
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Post by Mr Defence on Dec 18, 2011 12:49:44 GMT 3
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