Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe gives his official address during
celebrations held to mark the country's 34th independence anniversary on
April 18, 2014 in Harare, Zimbabwe. PHOTO/AFP
I have never imagined speaking on behalf
of Kenya in a foreign country. But this unlikely job fell on me
recently when one of my editors at The Washington Post engaged me on the
unsavoury subject of graft in government.
He wanted to know how endemic the problem is, and if there are any “practical” steps being taken to deal with it.
His
interest was aroused by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s use of Kenya
and Nigeria as the yardstick to explain the levels of malfeasance his
government should not engage in.
Mugabe was recently
quoted as asking his military chiefs: “Are we now like Nigeria and Kenya
where you have to reach into your pocket to get anything done?”
Like
many Kenyans, I was at first taken aback by the remarks considering
that Zimbabwe in more corrupt than Kenya, based on last year’s Transparency International’s corruption index.
Kenya,
with 26 points out of 100, was ranked 136 out of 177 countries surveyed
while Zimbabwe, with 21 points, was placed at position 156.
But
on second thoughts, I am convinced that inasmuch as Mugabe’s salvo is a
classic example of the pot calling the kettle black, it has an iota of
truth. Corruption is still rampant 13 months after Jubilee came into
power.
For the last one year, we have witnessed the
government’s failure to bring to book people who made millions on
Kenyans’ backs during the Moi and Kibaki years.
UNDER THE PRESIDENT'S NOSE
President
Kenyatta and his deputy, Mr William Ruto, have presided over
questionable deals involving billions of shillings, including the Sh425
billion Standard Gauge Railway tender, the Sh20 billion-plus school laptops bid, and Sh13 billion National Social Security Fund Tassia housing project tender.
Questions
have been raised over the procedures used to award these contracts,
with allegations about exaggerations and cooked up figures.
The
seriousness of this rot cannot be ignored after it emerged that some
people working right under the President’s nose are the chief architects
of these scandals.
Other beneficiaries are the ghost
workers who have infiltrated the civil service right from the counties
to the Office of the President. These criminals, the government has
admitted, take home a staggering Sh1.8 billion every year.
What
is more heart-rending, though, is response of President Kenyatta and
Deputy President Ruto to this criminality — empty warnings.
The
two leaders are busy telling people who have stolen taxpayers’ money
not to dip their hands into the cookie jar again, instead of stopping
them from swallowing the loot they are already chewing.
What
are courts and jails for? And why is Mr Mumo Matemu and his team at the
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission drawing millions in taxpayers’
money every month if thieves are to be sweet-talked like this?
It is equally shocking that the President has thrown his weight behind the railway project bid in spite of endless protests.
The
government’s inaction is contributing to the negative image corruption
has caused Kenya. If its leaders do not replace rhetoric with action,
Kenya will soon become the undisputed continental leader in rank
corruption.
Mr Misiko, a Sub-Editor with the
Nation, is an Alfred Friendly Press Partners’ 2014 Fellow at ‘The
Washington Post’. (Harrison.Misiko@washpost.com)
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