Doubts arise over war on graft
2005-08-10 22:42
Kenya - Anti-corruption advocates on Wednesday welcomed a vow by Kenya's justice minister to wage a "ruthless" war on graft but questioned whether it would produce tangible results given previous unmet government pledges.
Some suggested that Kiraitu Murungi's rare acknowledgement of Nairobi's failure on the graft front to date and stark admission of longstanding donor complaints might be counter-productive and further damage its credibility.
"Corruption is a vice that has to be fought," said Tom Ojienda, chairperson of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) which has been a frequent critic of the government's inaction on graft. "I don't think it's proper for the minister to own up.
"If they (government) say they can't fight it then it's not right and this is dangerous," he said. "It is not a good picture for this country to the donor community."
Disappointing comments
Mwalimu Mati, head of the local branch of global corruption monitor Transparency International (TI), said he was pleased Murungi had conceded losing the battle against graft but said the comments were "disappointing" as they ignored the vital role that non-governmental bodies should play in the fight.
"If they think they can fight it alone, they are mistaken," he said. "They need to form an effective coalition with the press, civil society organisations and others outside government to tackle the problem."
In an unusually blunt speech on Tuesday to officials with several Kenyan anti-graft agencies, Murungi said "the fight against corruption has lost momentum" and warned that the credibility of President Mwai Kibaki's government was on the line.
"The impunity of yesterday persists," Murungi said. "We must destroy these networks without mercy. We must be ruthless. We have spent some time aiming at the enemy. Time has now come for us to pull the trigger and spill blood."
Despite the minister's strong comments, Ojienda of the LSK expressed doubts over their translation into action, noting, as Murungi did, that similar vows had been made in the past only to have been unfulfilled.
Slow progress
"We are disappointed because we haven't seen much in the fight against corruption," he said. "Our greatest fear is that the fight against the vice has grounded in an old-time way of pointing fingers (with) no arrests being made."
"We feel the government has not done a lot in breaking the network," Ojienda said.
Kibaki's opposition coalition swept into power in 2002 elections largely on promises to rein in the rampant corruption but his administration has come under stinging criticism in recent months for failing to follow through on those pledges.
Donors estimate that graft has cost the Kenyan government up to a $1bn since 2002, nearly a fifth of the country's 2004 to 2005 official government spending of about $5.5bn.
Because of corruption, Germany and the United States have withheld millions of dollars in aid.
- SAPA