Hopes high as IMF team jets in By Aggrey Ouma
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team is expected in the country today to open discussions with the Government on the resumption of aid. Finance Minister David Mwiraria said the IMF team led by the Fund�s Director for African Affairs, Mr Abdoulaye Bio-tchane, will arrive in the country today. During his visit Bio-tchane will meet President Mwai Kibaki and other top Government officials, including the Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, the Head of the Civil Service, the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs and Ministry of Finance officials. Mwiraria said the intention of the Government is to have aid restored to Kenya in the next four months. He revealed that the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Mr Kiraitu Murungi, had been instructed to finalise the Anti-corruption and Economic Crimes Bills and present them to Parliament for consideration before the end of the month. The two Bills have remained a bone of contention between the Government and the World Bank and IMF and their passage is intended to signal the Government�s commitment to fighting corruption. Mwiraria said that he was optimistic Kenya would start drawing aid within the next four months following successful discussions with the IMF. "We believe that we are going to make it. Kenyans expect development and rapid development from the National Rainbow Coalition (Narc) Government," he said. Mwiraria was speaking in his office when he met the Indian High Commissioner, Mr Yogesh Tiwari. He said the new Government was committed to eradicating corruption and will stop at nothing to ensure that the vice is eliminated from the system. He also upheld the Government�s commitment to financing the free education system. He disclosed that his ministry was currently liaising with the Ministry of Education to ascertain the actual amount required for the implementation of the new system. The minister said that after the consultations, the Government will introduce a supplementary budget proposal to Parliament to secure the funds. Mwiraria asked the Indian government to resume the US$5 million (approximately Sh400 million) line of credit which stalled in 1997. He also asked the Indian envoy to convene the joint economic co-operation which failed to take place last May. Tiwari said his government had released an additional US$200 million (Sh16 billion) to be distributed to seven African countries including Kenya under the New Partnership for African Development (Nepad). He said his government was willing to restore the line of credit as soon as the joint commission is held. Meanwhile, Roads, Public Works and Housing Minister Raila Odinga has expressed optimism that donors would resume aid to the country soon. Raila said the Government will meet IMF and the World Bank to discuss possible aid resumption to the country. He added that unlike in the past when the Kenyan delegation met with the donors in Paris, this time the donors have agreed to meet the Kenyan team in Nairobi. "We are optimistic that our meeting this week with the donors will be fruitful and aid resumption is likely," said Raila. He said the donors were happy that those alleged to be involved in corruption had been removed from the Government. The minister was speaking in Karachuonyo in South Nyanza during the burial ceremony of Perus Awiti Bolo. Raila said other donor countries including Britain, Sweden, Germany, and Japan were ready to meet with the new Kenya Government to give aid to the country. Raila said donors were committed to ensuring that the country�s ailing economy was put back on its feet. And Vice-President Michael Kijana Wamalwa has re-affirmed that the Narc Government will ensure that Kenyans obtain free medical treatment through an insurance policy. He also directed that all Government hospitals should have adequate drugs to serve all people effectively. "There should be no reason why patients should be prescribed drugs from other pharmacies, it must be readily available in all hospitals," said the V-P. Wamalwa was speaking in Webuye town. He noted that Kenyans had been paying very high taxes in the past and yet they were not receiving adequate services from the Government
