Uhuru team reeling under graft claims

PHOTO | BILLY MUTAI Former Anti-corruption bosses Patrick Lumumba (Left) and John Githongo addressing the press in Nairobi on January 26, 2013 where they condemned the tendering of proposed Standard Gauge Railway Project They want government to terminate the process and begin a fresh.   NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

• Lobby groups ask Jubilee to step up war against corruption as leaders accuse cartels of fighting grand project
• On Sunday, the spokesman for the Presidency, Mr Manoah Esipisu, said Mr Kenyatta was committed to the fight against corruption.
• Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) said some of the cases could take long to be concluded.

By NATION TEAM
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The Jubilee administration is facing increasing pressure over corruption allegedly taking root at high levels and influencing tenders worth billions of shillings.

The latest salvo was fired Sunday when Uongozi, an advocacy group associated with the former anti-corruption czar John Githongo, wrote an open letter to President Uhuru Kenyatta asking him to suspend the Sh425 billion Mombasa-Malaba railway project until all questions that have been raised over the tender are answered.

“We write to you as patriot citizens in good faith, to share our deepening concerns regarding a number of issues which in our humble view threaten the soul of our beloved nation,” the group said in the letter signed by Mr Githongo, Dr PLO Lumumba and Mr Tom Mboya.

“We have reached a critical tipping point hence our decision to address you... Given the whiff of irregularity, it is our submissions that it would be prudent to immediately terminate the current process and begin a transparent process afresh, so as to ensure efficiency and value for money.”

COMMITTED TO FIGHTING GRAFT

But on Sunday, the spokesman for the Presidency, Mr Manoah Esipisu, said Mr Kenyatta was committed to the fight against corruption.

“The President has even launched a website on which to report any cases. He is always in touch with anti-corruption agencies,” he said.

Deputy President William Ruto also declared that the government would neither engage in business with corrupt cartels nor accept to be held to ransom.

“We are here to serve all Kenyans, not a few greedy individuals,” Mr Ruto said at St Monica ACK church, Dandora during a thanksgiving service for Embakasi North MP James Mwangi Kaguya.

“No one  and nothing will stop us from building the railway, building the roads, giving children laptops and doing irrigation among other pledges as enunciated in our manifesto.”

Earlier, the Consumer Federations of Kenya warned that the rising number of corruption cases could make the cost of living too high for Kenyans as cartels will block the flow of cheaper services to the public.

“This is no longer just about the government because it has demonstrated that it has a weak ability to fight corruption,” said Cofek secretary-general Stephen Mutoro.

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) said some of the cases could take long to be concluded.

“These scandals seem to be in succession, but the EACC is very much aware. If we get a good case, we will let everyone know,” said Mr Yasin Amaro, the commission’s public communications officer.

Since May, questions have been raised on some of the government’s investment and expenditure decisions. Among the most prominent was the controversial hiring of a luxury jet for the Deputy President, the airport expansion project, repair works on the Deputy President’s official house in Karen and the multi-billion-shilling railway tender.

This month, the controversial Tassia NSSF project has come to light after Mr Francis Atwoli, the Central Organisation of Trade Unions secretary-general called it “the scandal of the year” for supposedly going forward without a formal board approval

.

Yesterday, Mr Atwoli, who has since written to the Ombudsman to complain about the project, said every participant in the scandal should be punished regardless of status.

“Cotu wishes to see any individual involved in defrauding Kenyans dealt with irrespective of his/her political persuasions,” he told journalists in a statement.

SUSPENDED PROJECT

Last week, Labour Cabinet Secretary Kazungu Kambi suspended the Sh5.053 billion housing venture to allow time to address Cotu’s complaints.

The renewed focus on corruption comes just a day after key Jubilee coalition figures led by National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale and Senate Majority leader Kithure Kindiki gave President Kenyatta an ultimatum to expose corruption cartels tainting his administration.

Speaking at a funeral in Kieni, Nyeri, the leaders claimed that corruption networks were blackmailing the government by pretending to expose graft after losing out on lucrative procurement deals.

The leaders seemed to be targeting critics of the railway project led by Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter, who has claimed that the tender was riddled with corruption.

The MPs accused Mr Keter and other Jubilee critics of being used by merchants and wheeler-dealers who were out to discredit the government and derail important projects after losing out on tenders.

They cited the networks inherited from the Kibaki government, such as those behind the Anglo-Leasing scandal, which they claimed were still in government and trying to resume their activities.

The railway deal is the subject of investigations by two parliamentary committees.

Starehe MP Maina Kamanda, who chairs the Transport Committee, hit out at unnamed individuals who have allegedly infiltrated the government to try and influence decision-making.

Mr Kamanda accused the individuals of seeking to hold the government to ransom.

Speaking to the Nation on condition of confidentiality, a State House official agreed with the claims made by the Jubilee MPs.

“It is a motley of groups that have had long interest in government. They are so deep in government that nothing can happen without them having their hands on it,” the source said. “They are the reason some of the projects have not taken place even though money was released.

They are now back seeking to demonise the grand projects like the railway.”

CARTELS

Senator Kipchumba Murkomen also spoke of cartels who he accused of seeking to hold the government to ransom.

Senate Majority leader Kithure Kindiki had earlier said a few wealthy people were using their connections to intimidate people in government to award them tenders.

“You can intimidate some people some time, but you cannot intimidate all the people all the time,” he said.

And Mr Duale cautioned the cartels against using the courts to achieve their goals, saying Kenya now has a reformed Judiciary that did not condone corruption.

Reports by Bernard Namunane, Aggrey Mutambo and Ouma Wanzala