Now U.S. Blocks Sh200m Funding in Graft Protest
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The Nation (Nairobi)
February 9, 2005
Posted to the web February 8, 2005
Julius Bosire
Nairobi
The United States yesterday reacted sharply to the resignation of ethics PS John Githongo by suspending its Sh200 million support for the war against corruption - and threatening to withhold a further Sh560m.
And six other foreign missions joined the US in demanding that "senior figures" in the Government should "step aside" to help investigations into current corruption cases.
Citing increased graft at the heart of the Kibaki Government, US ambassador William Bellamy said the money he was now withholding would have been used to pay for anti-graft programmes set up by the Office of Governance and Ethics, which Mr Githongo used to head, the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission and the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
The funds now under threat - Sh560m - were part of the Millennium Challenge Account earmarked to support an improvement in ways of governing and of other anti-corruption activities.
"In view of recent developments, I have concluded that the United States must suspend its support of the Kenyan government anti-corruption activities until we can gain a clear picture of the Government's true intentions," Mr Bellamy told a meeting of the British Business Association of Kenya.
He spoke out as the US and six other envoys in Kenya issued a strongly worded protest at the resignation of Mr Githongo and called on President Kibaki to conduct an immediate review of his Government's approach to dealing with the crisis and took early action to restore credibility.
The envoys also demanded that "senior figures" in the Government should be ordered to step aside to help investigations into current abuses of public procurement.
In addition, the facts concerning corrupt deals should be made known and the culprits prosecuted to restore credibility to what they called "Narc's alleged anti-corruption campaign".
Signing the statement, in addition to the US, was Canada, Germany, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Addressing the businessmen, Mr Bellamy said the US had been forced to take the action because it was not yet convinced the Government was keen or even interested in fighting corruption.
Mr Bellamy said: "It makes no sense, obviously, to partner with a government whose commitment to improved governance is purely rhetorical and whose actions belie its statements of good intent."
He said he had come to realise that the fledgling steps and good intentions, with strong statements issued by President Kibaki, had not been enough to begin to change the culture of corruption in the country.
He said corruption would not be beaten by the Office of Ethics and Governance nor by the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission - however honest and exemplary were their heads as public servants.
He continued: "They are no match for an executive branch of government in whose ranks the kingpins of corruption operate."
He said it was not enough for the Government to say it had passed some laws back in 2003, fired judges or had set up an anti-corruption machinery. "The fact is throughout this period, corruption has again taken root in government and grown.
"Until there is a clear, unwavering tangible commitment from the highest levels of this government to deal swiftly and decisively with high level graft and corruption this problem will continue to grow," Mr Bellamy said.
He said fighting corruption was not something that could be delegated to a handful of brave, but vulnerable, civil servants sitting in some office.
The US was eager to work with Kenya to improve governance and was in a position to be generous but, "we cannot be helpful when all the evidence suggests that the Government isn't serious or, worse, that government is the source of the problem."
Mr Bellamy said the jaded reaction, almost one of boredom, to complaints by diplomats about corruption amounted to a dangerous acceptance of graft as a normal way of doing business.
He cautioned against the casual way many people treated the revelation of corruption within the Government.
Mr Bellamy said British High Commissioner Edward Clay had spoken eloquently about it last week and the reality was that the value of the 20 corrupt deals he had reported to the President would almost cover this year's budget deficit.
Put another way, the cost of that corruption was that the money lost through graft was enough to finance anti-retroviral drug treatment for every HIV-affected Kenyan who needed it for the next 10 years.
Giving another example, Mr Bellamy said that the Sh500 million paid out to ghost workers and in improper allowances in the Ministry of Health would fund the recruitment of 2,000 nurses.
He continued: "Corruption in Kenya isn't a matter of kitu kidogo or of a few ministers skimming off commissions. It is big enough to cause macro-economic distortions.
"Every Kenyan labouring to feed his family, educate his children, care for a family member suffering from Aids or simply avoid getting hacked to death in the mounting wave of violence sweeping this country is a victim of today's corruption."
Anyone who thought corruption was just part of the cost of doing business in Kenya, that it is perhaps regrettable but unavoidable feature at this stage of Kenya's development, just hasn't done the maths, he said.
There was a straight link between the corruption of the 1980s and the 1990s and Kenya's social and economic decline during the period.
Mr Bellamy said those complaining about corruption in government were not enemies of the State but rather the truest friends of Kenya and its people.
The US was a major supporter of projects countrywide - last year it allocated Sh14 billion for project assistance to Kenya. Of the total amount, Sh5.6 billion was spent on combating HIV/Aids through President Bush's Emergency Plan for Aids relief. This year, the US Government planned to spend Sh8.8 billion in the same Aids programme.
Elsewhere, Mr Githongo's resignation threatened to divide a special Cabinet committee on corruption set up by President Kibaki to spearhead the fight against graft.
Cabinet ministers Amos Kimunya and Musikari Kombo described Mr Githongo's action as "regrettable."
Saying it was "a blow to Cabinet efforts in taming corruption," Lands minister Kimunya added: "It is a loss to us in the committee. He knew what he was doing and he did it with the diligence of a professional."
Mr Aaron Ringera, head of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, expressed surprise and regret at the resignation but said there would be no let-up in the war on corruption.
He went on: "His exit from the front-line is greatly regretted. We shall miss him. Those of us left, however, intend to continue striking blows which may land or miss but this is not a fight we can walk away from."
Mr Githongo's resignation was due to frustrations he faced from a President who seemed uninterested in what was being done to fight corruption, said the executive director of Transparency International, Ms Gladwel Otieno, speaking on behalf of 20 NGOs.
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She said they would lobby Parliament to pass a vote of no confidence in the Government if President Kibaki did not take action against errant ministers and officials cited in connection with corrupt deals.
"This decision was based on lack of backing from the President in the fight against corruption. He resigned in honour. He had done his best and it was impossible to go on," Ms Otieno said.
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