Graft: Kenyan minister quits
2006-02-01 22:13
Fredrik Dahl and David Mageria
Nairobi - Kenyan finance minister David Mwiraria resigned on Wednesday alleging he had been wrongly linked to a multimillion-dollar corruption scandal that has rocked the government and infuriated Western donors.
The 67-year-old friend of President Mwai Kibaki - who has run east Africa's largest economy for the past three years - is the first official to step down in connection with revelations about the "Anglo Leasing" scam in which contracts went to a phantom firm.
"In order that my name be cleared and to protect the integrity of the president, the government and our country Kenya, I hereby voluntarily step aside," said Mwiraria in a letter to Kibaki that he read to media.
Mwiraria was one of four senior figures accused in recent days by Kenyan former anti-corruption chief John Githongo.
Documents released by Githongo from Britain, where he now lives after resigning and leaving Kenya last year, linked the four, and various junior officials, to tenders worth about $200m, according to local media.
Deeply disturbed by allegations
Mwiraria, who has been credited with overseeing a turnaround in the economy after decades of decline, was accused of knowing about some of the contracts and taking part in a cover-up.
"The allegations made against me... which have cast serious aspersions on my character and integrity, have deeply disturbed me," he said in the letter. "My conscience is clear."
In addition to Mwiraria, Githongo has named vice-president Moody Awori, energy minister Kiraitu Murungi and recently sacked transport minister Chris Murungaru.
The four are wanted for questioning by anti-corruption authorities.
All have proclaimed their innocence, but the two serving ministers will now be under pressure also to resign.
British-based Africa analyst Patrick Smith said: "This is the first brick to be pulled out of the wall and it makes it difficult for the remaining senior members of the government mentioned in the Githongo dossier to survive."
Also on Wednesday, Murungaru's lawyers asked a court to block anti-graft investigators from taking action against him on the grounds that it would violate his constitutional rights.
Kibaki under pressure
Foreign donors are closely monitoring the saga, a huge embarrassment to Kibaki, who swept to power in 2002 promising to wipe out the rampant corruption that blighted the nation of 32 million people under his predecessor, Daniel arap Moi.
One senior western diplomat said he was encouraged that Mwiraria had taken political responsibility over the affair.
But the envoy added: "It is too little, too late and more has to be done.
"These problems are not just about one person - it is about many people, the system, culture and attitudes."
The scandal and the loss of Mwiraria are the latest blows to Kibaki, after a humiliating defeat in a November referendum on a new constitution and a drought that has left millions hungry.
Opposition leaders had been calling daily for the named ministers to quit and there have been some calls for Kibaki, 74, to dissolve the government or step down himself.
"I think the resignation of the minister is an admission of the high-level corruption in the government," said shadow finance minister Billow Kerrow.
Long before the latest revelations, Kenyans had been listing corruption as one of their chief concerns in a nation where many lived on less than a dollar a day.
Money was returned
Under the Anglo Leasing scandal, government money was paid to a shadowy foreign company for services supposedly including forgery-proof passports, navy ships and forensic laboratories.
The money came back when the affair became public.
The cash payments for Anglo Leasing - and another scandal known as "Goldenberg" in which Kenya lost $1bn in state money through bogus gold and diamond exports - started under Moi. Anglo Leasing payments continued under Kibaki.
- Reuters