PRESIDENT KENYATTA IN CORRUPTION DILEMMA
PRESIDENT Uhuru Kenyatta is facing a major dilemma in his declared war on corruption after at least six permanent Secretaries were implicated in various scandals over the past one week.
The confirmation by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) that they were fast closing in on at least three permanent secretaries, either accused of irregular awarding of tenders or travelling abroad to receive kickbacks, have only served to pile further pressure on the President to crack the whip.
Treasury CS Henry Rotich was on Tuesday grilled in connection with construction of multi-billion-shilling dams amid claims of kickbacks. His Tourism counterpart Najib Balala has been questioned with regard to a contract awarded to a US tour firm.
President Kenyatta’s frustrations over corruption scandals rocking his Cabinet were evident when he chaired a Cabinet meeting on Thursday. In the session, Mr Kenyatta is said to have expressed strong concerns over widespread claims that some ministers were pocketing bribes.
A high-ranking official familiar with the deliberations told the Sunday Nation the President has commissioned an audit of all big projects and contractors asked to offer any information about bribe requests by ministers to Mr Kinyua for prompt action.
He is reported to have vowed that anyone implicated in the audit will not only be shown the door but also arraigned in court.
Most of the revelations touching on the possibility that some rogue CSs have been collecting bribes, referred to as "10 per cent", surfaced in a recent meeting where Dr Matiang’i hosted contractors.
HUGE BRIBES
Some are said to have openly accused the ministers of demanding huge bribes, almost making it hard to deliver the projects. Those who fail to comply said they were threatened with blacklisting or losing out on subsequent tenders.
The meeting, at the Kenya School of Government, was also attended by the Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji and DCI boss George Kinoti.
Mr Kiunjuri was on the receiving end last year over the National Cereals and Produce Board failure to pay farmers. The President told Mr Kiunjuri to his face he will be in trouble if, once again, money meant for maize farmers was paid out to well-connected individuals.
Dr Matiang’i also had a close shave when MPs accused him of having benefited from the Ruaraka land scam. A Parliamentary report linking him to the scandal was rejected by the House. Health CS Sicily Kariuki has also survived despite parastatals under her watch such us the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) facing claims of massive theft of public money.
Mr Kenyatta had no kind words for his ministers suspected of engaging in corruption when he said: “If Matiang'i steals, will he share the matoke (boiled bananas) with you? Or if I steal, will I share the loot with my people of Ichaweri? Corrupt individuals should not be identified by their communities. Let everyone carry their own cross,” he said.
Mr Kenyatta is said to be infuriated with his
Cabinet which he blames for slowing down the war on graft.
DILEMMA
He is on record on many occasions lambasting them for lack of frugality in handling public resources but the fact that some CSs have been grilled by sleuths lately, even with reports emerging that the home of one of them was also raided, triggers a sense of urgency for the President to act. When launching Kenya Coast Guard Service late last year, a visibly annoyed Kenyatta explained why he bypassed some individuals in government whom he said were going to quote unreasonable budgets to create room for their cuts. The President’s dilemma lies in the sheer number of CSs and other top government officials he may be forced to punish over alleged corruption with the number of those implicated swelling by the day. Last week alone, five CSs and the Head of Public Service Mr Kinyua were implicated in corrupt practices. Mr Kinyua and Dr Matiang’i remain two of President Kenyatta’s most trusted lieutenants, and any links to corruption would only undermine his leadership.
The second dilemma lies in the political backlash likely to arise should it appear the war on corruption is targeting a particular community.
Deputy President William Ruto’s allies have publicly accused the government of targeting his supporters in the graft war
To some observers, just lamenting about the turn of events as if he were helpless yet he is the country’s chief executive has only served to weaken his pedestal in the fight against corruption.
University of Nairobi Law Professor Ben Sihanya thinks that if Mr Kenyatta is serious about eliminating corruption in his Cabinet, then more than half a dozen CSs would either be in jail or at home.
“Forcing a corrupt officer from the Executive wing of government to resign is the easiest thing. It is easier compared to other arms like Judiciary where, for instance, one would require a commission of inquiry before a judge is asked to leave when implicated. Integrity issues do not need proof,” he said.
Prof Winnie Mitullah from the same institution, however, believes Mr Kenyatta has demonstrated commitment to rooting out the vice.
“The President has acknowledged the depth of corruption in government. That is a good beginning point.”
Minority Leader in the National Assembly John Mbadi agrees with her: “I no longer doubt the President’s commitment to deal with corruption. I’m sure he will take administrative action the moment he finds his CSs are culpable,” he said.
Junior government officers have been forced to take responsibility for pilferage of public resources and a bloodthirsty public left wondering why the ministers were not taking responsibility for reported graft in their respective dockets.
Fuelled by runaway corruption in government, the eve of 2019 was replete with reports that Mr Kenyatta would reshuffle the Cabinet but this never came to be. Talk of such a shake-up has since fizzled out.
Mr Kinoti and Mr Haji have been accused of only going for the small fish in the Executive arm of government.
Whereas many parastatal heads and their juniors have been arraigned in connection with theft in their departments, the duo is accused of not trying a single minister under whose dockets the state corporations lie.
Were he to ask those accused of corruption to step aside, it would not be the first time Mr Kenyatta would be taking this route. His “list of shame” to Parliament in 2015 saw several ministers shown the door including Charity Ngilu, Michael Kamau, Kazungu Kambi, Felix Koskei and Davies Chirchir.
Mr Balala also appeared before MPs on Thursday to shed light on the swirling claims of impropriety.
Matters were compounded on Thursday when the Senate amended the report on the maize importation scandal and recommended two more CSs and several principal secretaries be held culpable for the importation of maize that destabilised the sector and impoverished farmers.
The Senate, in August last year, established an ad hoc committee on the maize scandal and recommended that Mr Rotich and then Agriculture CS Willy Bett be held responsible for the mess. But when debate on the report came up on Thursday, senators voted that all government officials who sat in the inter-ministerial committee on food security be held responsible.
Among the members are Interior CS Fred Matiang’i and his Agriculture counterpart Mwangi Kiunjuri.
Also sucked into the scandal is Head of Public Service and one of President Kenyatta’s most trusted men, Mr Joseph Kinyua, who chaired the committee. ROGUE CSs
In its report, the committee, which was co-chaired by Ms Margaret Kamar (Uasin Gishu) and her Bungoma counterpart Moses Wetang’ula, said the crisis that led to flooding of duty-free maize was a ploy by both the public and private sector players to profiteer from distortion of the maize value chain.
Mr Kenyatta had no kind words for his ministers suspected of engaging in corruption when he said: “If Matiang’i steals, will he share the matoke (boiled bananas) with you?
Deputy President William Ruto’s allies have publicly accused the government of targeting his supporters in the graft war