Kenyan graft MPs reinstated
2006-11-15 17:43
Nairobi - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki reappointed on Wednesday two ministers who resigned early this year over allegations of high-level corruption amid growing political temperatures ahead of next year's general elections.
President Kibaki said George Saitoti and Kiraitu Murungi should resume operations at the education and energy ministries, nine months after they resigned to pave the way for investigations into their alleged role in graft, his office said in a statement.
In addition, he named nine new deputy ministers, including three from the opposition, and changed two others.
"The appointments and changes take place with immediate effect," his press wing, said the Presidential Press Service.
Saitoti resigned in February after a judicial panel called for his prosecution over an alleged link to the "Goldenberg Affair", which involved the theft of at least $573.6m through forged credit schemes in the 1990s.
But in July, the high court blocked his prosecution on ground that the government had earlier cleared him of similar charges.
Kabiki accused of violating constitution
And Murungi, who was named in a separate attempt to defraud the government of $250m through payment of money to shadowy firms on security and defence contracts, was re-appointed after the attorney general dismissed evidence against him as insufficient.
Their reappointments sparked howls of protest from opposition parties, grouped into the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), which is currently girding for next year's presidential elections.
Officials have accused Kibaki of violating the constitution by naming opposition lawmakers to the government without consulting with their parties, as directed by the country's basic law.
"This government is not serious in fighting corruption. How can it reappoint people it has already implicated in the vice?" said William Ruto, the secretary general of the opposition Kenya African National Union (Kanu).
"The jury is out there and Kenyans will vote next year to decide if they want a president who continues to violate the constitution ... he swore to protect."
"We are saddened by the fact that the president continues ... to poach MP's from the opposition," added Ruto.
'Bloated and useless cabinet'
ODM chief Raila Odinga, who has already tossed his hat into next year's race to the top seat, said Kibaki had failed in his pre-election pledges of fighting endemic corruption that was blamed for the near-collapse of the country's economy in 1990's.
"What else do you expect from a president who has failed to lead by example of fighting corruption?" asked the influential Odinga, an ally-turned-foe of Kibaki.
"This is a bloated and useless cabinet which will achieve nothing. We as ODM are preparing for next year's elections to remove this government that violates the constitution," added Odinga.
Last month, the country's graft-watchdog Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) clashed with the government after state lawyers dismissed its recommendations to prosecute former government officials, including ex-ministers.
Donors have, however, expressed concern about the country's resolve to fight graft, which was a way of life during the 24-year-regime of president Daniel arap Moi, who retired in 2002.
The scandals came as an embarrassment to the Kibaki's government, which came to power in December 2002 on the platform of ending corruption in the east African nation, home to 32 million people.
- SAPA