Kenya slams 'theft' report

2007-08-31 20:02

Nairobi - Kenya's government on Friday rejected a report that claimed the country's former president Daniel Arap Moi stole a billion dollars during his regime and stashed them in foreign accounts.

Britain-based risk consultancy group Kroll said in a report that Moi's shell companies, hidden trusts, frontmen and associates got at least billion dollars out of the country during his 24-year regime.

Britain's Guardian newspaper on Friday reported that this amount could put Moi at par with Africa's kleptomaniacs rulers, notably Zaire's Mobutu Sese Seko and Nigeria's Sani Abacha.

But Nairobi rejected the allegations, saying the claims were tailored to sully President Mwai Kibaki, who is seeking a second and final term in the year-end polls.

Earlier this week, Moi backed his successor Kibaki's bid, a move seen as a decisive boost to the incumbent's chances.

"This is a political gimmick and machinery that is a bit questionable and the intent is to throw aspersions on Kibaki's government as we approach the next general elections," Kenyan government spokesperson Alfred Mutua told AFP.

"The report only targets Moi family yet we have more that 50 people who have been named in reports that they have channelled out funds. A Kroll spokesperson told the Guardian the company could neither confirm nor deny the findings.

"We believe that it is because president Moi came out in favour of President Kibaki," Mutua added.

Kibaki came to power in 2002 chiefly on a platform of ending systemic graft, but his regime has faced accusations of fostering the vice that nearly grounded the country's economy.

During Moi's rule, the country was saddled with extreme poverty and all-pervading corruption that prompted then Bretton Woods institutions to halt funding.

- AFP