The lords of corruption can rest easy under umbrella of top-level protectors

President Uhuru Kenyatta hands over the EACC report to National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi (left) and Senate Speaker Ekwee Ethuro after the State of the Nation address in Parliament on March 26, 2015. PHOTO | BILLY MUTAI |  NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

• It was odd that as he was asking those on the list to step down, he was rubbishing the capacity of the authors of that same list and in an aside from his written speech hinting to parliamentarians that sacking the commissioners of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) would be in order.
• Almost as soon as the List of Shame was tabled, State House seemed to move into overdrive on a scheme to undermine and ultimately send home the investigators.
• What is interesting is that Parliament moved against the commissioners in response to a petition filed by an individual who may be an interested party in a matter under investigation.

By MACHARIA GAITHO
More by this Author

It was just a month ago, on this very page, that I lauded President Kenyatta’s belated assault against corruption in his government.

By demanding that Cabinet secretaries and other public servants in the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission’s “List of Shame” step aside, the President was sending a firm signal that he would no longer condone or protect suspect individuals in the inner sanctum of his government.

I even upbraided the opposition leaders for their negative reaction, suggesting that instead of opposing for the sake of opposing, they should be the first to support the President’s newfound resolve in the war against graft. After all, he had done what they had been demanding all along.

I ended my missive with a caution, however, that the President’s actions would be nugatory if it turned out that there was something fishy.

How events have unfolded since then might persuade that my endorsement of President Kenyatta’s crusade was premature and ought to be withdrawn. Warning signals should have been seen from the word go when the President used his State of the Nation address from Parliament to signal the launch of the war against corruption by tabling the List of Shame.

It was odd that as he was asking those on the list to step down, he was rubbishing the capacity of the authors of that same list and in an aside from his written speech hinting to parliamentarians that sacking the commissioners of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) would be in order.

Almost as soon as the List of Shame was tabled, State House seemed to move into overdrive on a scheme to undermine and ultimately send home the investigators.

When the President last week suspended the two remaining commissioners, chairman Mumo Matemu and his deputy, Irene Keino (the third commissioner, Prof Jane Onsongo, had been threatened and hounded out of office) after the National Assembly recommended they be investigated, the die was cast.

MOVED AGAINST COMMISSIONERS

What is interesting is that Parliament moved against the commissioners in response to a petition filed by an individual who may be an interested party in a matter under investigation.

The parliamentary lynch mob seems to have been activated the moment the anti-corruption body woke up from its long slumber to launch a fresh round of prosecutions in the Anglo Leasing saga.

Another ongoing investigation that the lords of impunity were determined to scuttle revolved around the mysterious “acquisition” by unknown individuals of Integrity Centre, the very building that houses the EACC.

Parliamentarians did not find it odd that the lawyer who filed the petition to remove Mr Matemu and Ms Keino has had a direct association with another lawyer fronting the secret new owners of Integrity Centre.

Neither did they see the need to interrogate the fact that operatives from State House, the State Law office, and even Jubilee attack dogs from within the House had been busy over the past three weeks trying to intimidate, threaten, and coerce the commissioners into resigning.

Prof Onsongo took fright and quit, but Mr Matemu and Ms Keino hung tough until they were eventually forced out. That kind of sustained pressure could only have been driven and directed from State House and could only have been designed to kill, not strengthen, the anti-corruption war.

Now, this is not advocacy for Mr Matemu and his team. In my estimation, the man has been a disgrace since his contentious appointment in 2012.

He came into office carrying the stink of corruption allegations from previous offices and never did anything in his tenure to demonstrate any commitment to his job. Like his predecessors, it was all bark and no bite.

However, there could have been civilised ways of removing him for non-performance without resorting to lynch mobs directed by shadowy forces that are the axis of corruption.

*****

The government Monday filled over 300 vacancies in State corporations. The dispatch from State House talked of “reform and transformation of the parastatal sector” and appointments based on “integrity, dedication and competence”.

Scrutiny of the list shows the recycling of tired old politicians and rewards for friends and hangers-on.

mgaitho@ke.nationmedia.com. @MachariaGaitho on Twitter