US: Address graft or lose aid
2006-01-23 21:23
Nairobi - The US on Monday urged Kenya's government seriously to address allegations of corruption levelled against the current vice-president and two powerful cabinet ministers, saying this would determine the country's future with donors.
US ambassador to Kenya, William Bellamy, said a report, made public at the weekend but sent last year to President Mwai Kibaki, implicating the men in the so-called "Anglo Leasing" scandal was "not surprising perhaps, but quite disturbing".
"And I think it is fair to say that how the government reacts to these revelations will have profound consequences for Kenya's relations with donors and its development as a democracy," he added.
"Decisive action is long overdue," Bellamy said.
"If any reminder was needed then certainly the revelations we have seen in the past few days have served that purpose."
The report was prepared by John Githongo, who resigned as Kibaki's chief anti-corruption advisor in early 2005 and fled Kenya for Britain citing death threats.
In it, he said vice-president Moody Awori, finance minister David Mwiraria, energy minister Kiraitu Murungi and fired transport minister Chris Murungaru were all involved in the scheme allegedly to bilk the government of hundreds of millions of dollars.
The publication of the report has created a furore in Kenya and Bellamy's comments came as opposition groups stepped up calls for those implicated to resign.
The "Anglo Leasing" scandal involved a tender to develop high-tech passports and build forensic police laboratories worth more than $200m.
Despite Kibaki's vows to clean up graft, donors say corruption may have cost Kenya up to $1bn since 2002.
Several foreign donor nations, including the United States, suspended some assistance to Kenya last year because of concerns Kibaki was not following through on his anti-corruption pledges.