Kenyan ministers investigated
2005-03-11 13:56
Nairobi - Kenyan authorities are investigating a number of cabinet ministers over corruption allegations, officials said on Friday, amid furious foreign criticism of the government on graft, officials said on Friday.
"We have got quite a number of ministers under probe for corruption," a senior member of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) told AFP. "Several members of parliament are also being investigated."
"The allegations range from abuse of office to using public office for private gain," the official said.
The official would not discuss details of the cases under investigation but Nairobi press reports said the allegations involved 68 MPs, including four ministers and 12 assistant ministers.
President vows to fight corruption
The Daily Nation, quoting a report by Kenya's chief auditor Evans Mwai, said the lawmakers were suspected of defrauding the government of 37 million shillings ($498 000), mostly in falsified travel allowance claims, between January and September 2003.
The attorney general's office said it would consider prosecutions if the KACC provided it with enough evidence to take to trial.
"We deal with prosecutions, not investigations," Director of Public Prosecutions Philip Murgor said. "We will peruse the files when they come to our office and consider prosecution if there is sufficient evidence."
News of the investigations of senior officials came a day after Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, besieged by an international furore over alleged graft in his government, renewed a vow to clamp down on corruption.
On a visit to Ethiopia where he met with African Union officials and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Kibaki said his government was upholding the public trust by "fighting the real problems that afflict the continent."
"These include the fight against poverty, the fight against corruption and ensuring that there is just reward for hard work, as well as the fight against the fertile seed of tribalism," he said, according to a statement from his office.
Kibaki has been pilloried in recent weeks by foreign donors, led by Kenya's former colonial master, Britain, for inaction in making good on pledges to deal with rampant graft.
The United States and Germany have each suspended millions of dollars in assistance to Kenya, citing an apparent lack of government commitment in fighting corruption.
The European Union, the country's largest collective donor, Japan and Canada have warned they may review future aid programmes for the same reason. - AFP
- SAPA