The Oxford Student - Official Student Newspaper

Whistleblower Don summoned

By Robert Cookson

Nairobi to North Oxford - the journey of one man who would not be silenced

An Oxford don who fl ed from Kenya after exposing widespread corruption at the heart of his country’s government has been summoned to Nairobi to face trial. The demand comes just a year after John Githongo, former head of the Kenyan government’s anti-corruption unit, fl ed to Oxford in fear of his life. Last Friday a Kenyan court ordered Githongo to defend himself in a defamation lawsuit fi led by former national security minister, Chris Murungaru.

Murungaru, who has been barred from Britain and the United States for alleged corrupt activity, was one of several current and former top offi cials implicated by Githongo in the notorious “Anglo Leasing” scandal. The scam involved the payment of more than $200 million to non-existent security and defence fi rms. The money was then allegedly funnelled back into the pockets of corrupt offi - cials.

Murungaru, who was dropped from President Kibaki’s cabinet after Githongo’s dossier alleged his involvement, has vehemently denied the charges. If Githongo returns to Kenya he risks death. While he is widely regarded by the Kenyan people as a national hero, there are fears that members of the country’s corrupt oligarchy will exact retribution for his damning expose.

Githongo has received a number of death threats, which have come in the form of anonymous phone calls as well as forceful warnings from fi gures close to Kenya’s powerful elite. Githongo told The Oxford Student, “This is a long struggle and we are only at the early stages.” Githongo spent a year in Oxford compiling a 36-page dossier which detailed the sleaze he had uncovered while working as the Kenyan government’s anti-corruption tsar.

The explosive dossier, released in February 2006, revealed corruption on a staggering scale at the very highest levels of government. The document, painstakingly assembled in St Anthony’s College, implicated a number of high-ranking offi cials, including President Mwai Kibaki, in a complex web of largescale corruption. Githongo estimated that $300million worth of dubious contracts were present in the security sector alone.

When the dossier was leaked to the world’s media in February 2006 it ignited a massive political scandal, and led directly to the resignations of two high-ranking government offi cials, leaving the Kenyan government on the brink of collapse. Sir Edward Clay, former UK High Commissioner to Kenya, told The Oxford Student, “The attempt to intimidate is an ugly feature of political life in Kenya.

He said that if Githongo returned to Kenya, “Many people would cheer him; a few would snarl in their corners. Some of the growlers have dangerous moods.”

Maina Kiai, Chairman of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, told The Oxford Student, “When you are exposing the small elite that controls power �" those who are not committed to the betterment of this country, but only to increasing their own power- you expose yourself to serious danger.” It was death threats that forced Githongo to leave his homeland for Oxford, where he was appointed Senior Associate Member at St Anthony’s College.

With him Githongo brought bundles of files containing evidence of governmental corruption. Last Friday Nairobi High Court Justice Festus Azangalala gave Githongo 45 days to present himself to testify in the case brought by Murungaru. Azangalala warned that if Githongo fails to respond within 45 days from the day he is served with his summons the court will enter a judgement, almost certainly against him, in his absence. Githongo was unable to say whether he will attend the trial in person.

The Oxford Student understands that Githongo is currently in the process of legal consultation. In his suit against Githongo, Murungaru alleges that the claims against him in the dossier “consist of a pack of falsehoods, rumours, gossip, inconclusive inferences, suspicion, hearsay (that) are the product of the defendant’s fertile, creative and artistic imagination.

However, Maina Kiai, Chairman of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights told The Oxford Student he thought that Murungaru’s lawsuit was an attempt to discredit and silence Githongo. “To me it seems to be a case aimed at muzzling him. Murungaru’s intention is to reduce Githongo’s impact on the world.” These sentiments were echoed by Clay.

Murungaru, in a further effort to clear his name, has also taken the British government to court after he was banned at the end of July 2005 from travelling to Britain. His lawyers argued for his visa to be reinstated and for his right to travel to and through the UK to be restored. The verdict on the case is expected to be announced in the next few weeks. Murungaru has also been on the receiving end of legal action.

On February 17, 2006, he faced interrogators from the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission in a Nairobi court who wanted to know how vast his financial and property empire is, and how he accumulated it. The Commission suspects that Murungaru has become too rich too quickly and has been investigating the source of his wealth, especially in relation to the Anglo Leasing Scandal. Murungaru is reputed to be a millionaire.

The Rise of Corruption

The defamation case that Murungaru launched last week against Githongo is only the most recent twist in a slew of corruption scandals that have engulfed East Africa’s most developed nation. The onslaught shows few signs of slowing. -Two days ago Transparency International, an independent global anti-corruption organisation released a report which shows that corruption is on the rise in the Kenya.

The report found that Kenyans come across bribery in close to half of their interactions with officials.

-Yesterday Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Martha Karua said that corruption was still rampant in the country, and it permeated all sectors. “It appears that we have only scratched the surface in fighting the menace,” said Karua.

Kenyans contacted by The Oxford Student said that if the rise of corruption is ever to be reversed, change must come from those at the highest levels of power. This is why Githongo, whose dossier triggered what is dubbed Africa’s Watergate, has become a figure of respect for the Kenyan people. This is the first time such a high-ranking insider stepped forward and rattled the cage of government.

His dossier resulted in uproar sweeping through Kenya, withdrawal of aid from a stunned international community, and the unprecedented resignation of top government officials. One of the closest allies of President Kibaki, Minister of Energy and former Justice Minister Kiraitu Murungi, and Finance Minister David Mwiraria both resigned following revelations that they had been involved in the Anglo Leasing Scandal, following Githongo’s investigation and expose. Githongo has given taped evidence to the BBC which allegedly shows Murungi attempting to blackmail the anti-corruption tsar into silence. Kiai said, “What Githongo has done has made him extremely popular with the people of this country.

His popularity is about what he has had the courage to do. He was the first civil servant in the country to expose governmental corruption.” “Githongo was the first voice in the inner sanctum of power to let us know the kinds of machinations and games that are played to literally steal from the Kenyan people.

Sir Edward Clay, former UK High Commissioner to Kenya, said, “John Githongo was one of the generation of forty-somethings from civil society who, having been a campaigner against corruption for years, was brought into the top level of government and given the opportunity to practise what he had for long advocated.

The Government thought he could be used to put shine on their claimed commitment to fight corruption; and when he started unearthing anything best buried, they could muzzle or suborn him. The outstanding thing was that he preferred to remain true to his principles and faithful to his public duty. So far, his is the most notable scalp claimed by Kenya’s corruption �" and the very one who should not be! But more deserving ones await attention.

Bennon Maina, a student at Oxford Brookes with family in Kenya, said that Githongo was a hero for his courage in the face of incredible pressure. He said, “In Africa’s political arena if you speak the truth you are liable to death.” A spokesperson for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said, “John Githongo’s serious and credible corruption allegations have led to Kenyans themselves demanding political accountability.

The Kenyan Government was elected in 2002 on a ticket of zero-tolerance of corruption.”

Broken Promises

President Kibaki’s government was seen as a fresh start for Kenya after 24 years of rule of Moi’s KANU party. Kibaki swept into power in 2002 on the promise of an end to the corruption that had plagued the country. On the day that he came into office Kibaki told the Kenyan people, “Corruption will now cease to be a way of life in Kenya”.

But Kibaki’s failure to end corruption has disappointed foreign aid donors and enraged those who elected his National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) four years ago. The government maintains that the recent series of corruption cases that have come to light shows that that they are taking sleaze seriously, but critics say it only acted under pressure. So far, no senior figure has been jailed.

Githongo’s alleges that President Kibaki had been informed about the endemic corruption within his cabinet at every stage, but did nothing to stop it. Earlier this month Kenya’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) issued a report on the Anglo Leasing scandal and other recent incidents of corruption. The individuals named in Githongo’s dossier are now being rigorously investigated are brought to account.

The PAC report said, “It is [Githongo’s] evidence that a number of officials in the administration, whose support he would have expected in investigating the scandal, attempted in several ways to block investigations and may themselves allegedly been involved in covering up the scandal and protecting the culprits.” The report addresses the companies into which the Kenyan government poured hundreds of millions of dollars, which appear to only exist on paper.

It continues, “The incredulous situation where nobody seems to know, or to have ever dealt with the individuals being paid such large sums of money is further evidence of the ring of conspiracy. This situation, in the view of the Committee, is explainable on the basis that such companies are only a phantom.” While scandal rips through Kenya’s corridors of power, swathes of the country are stricken by famine.

Half of the population lives below the poverty line and under half have access to clean water. Since 2002, the Kenyan government has spent more than $12m on new cars. Sir Edward Clay said thought that Githongo would one day be able to return home without fearing for his life. He said, “I believe so, though the risks are real enough. A Kenya which could not accommodate people like him is unimaginable.”

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John Githongo dared to speak out against greed and corruption, but his bravery made him many enemies by Adam Mynott. ( Adam Mynott is the BBC’s East Africa Correspondent, based in the Kenyan capital Nairobi )

He is a hero to millions of Kenyans, but John Githongo would risk his life if he were to set foot in Kenya again. The problem is that his admirers are the powerless, the down-trodden masses of Kenya, struggling to live on 150 shillings (£1.20) or less a day; while his opponents �" just a few thousand - wield untrammelled power, driving round in large, new cars, growing rich in a decrepit, insidious administration riddled from top to bottom with corruption.

He is hated by his enemies to a point where many want rid of him. In Kenya’s 40 year post-independence history he is the first person to have threatened their lucrative lifestyles. When he was appointed by President Kibaki in 2003 as head of the country’s anti-corruption drive, he had the temerity to take his job seriously.

Politicians, civil servants and officials, with their noses in the trough, hadn’t expected him to do anything other than draw his substantial salary, and, perhaps like many of them, augment it a bit along the way with a bit of free enterprise. But John Githongo began to record the disappearance of millions and millions of shillings from the Kenyan exchequer into the pockets of the corrupt.

He kept notes of dates and conversations with ministers and officials and reported regularly to the President. He started looking into a company called Anglo Leasing which was doing millions of shillings of business with the Kenyan Government. About a year after he started the anti-corruption job he told President Kibaki that he was worried because Anglo Leasing was a non-existent company, with a spurious address in Liverpool, that was stripping hundreds of millions from the Kenyan people.

This was just the start; as John Githongo wrote in his report to the President in November of last year “the list of suspect contracts by fictitious companies grew by the day”. It also became clear to John Githongo that his probing had put his life at risk, ”...I was now a prisoner in my job because I knew too much…’they’ could even try to kill me.” So he fled to Oxford and took up his post at St. Antony’s College.

It is a measure of his impact on the corrupt political regime in Kenya that John Githongo’s efforts have caused directly the resignation of two senior ministers, and indirectly one other for corruption. In Kenyan history no senior politician had been forced to resign because of corruption before. The government, in fact, the very edifice of the Kenyan administrative system, was shaken by his work, but the rusty ship of state appears now to have steadied itself again.

A few people have been lobbed overboard, but it now looks as though it’s back to business as usual on deck. Nothing illustrates this more clearly than the fact that one of the men that John Githongo most clearly pointed his finger at, right at the very top of the Government, Vice President Moody Awori, was able to brazen it out. He turned a blind eye to the accusing newspaper headlines, and deaf ear to cries for him to resign. This is the most depressing aspect of the John Githongo affair.

Despite his efforts and, despite support from the international community, just this week research by Transparency International showed that corruption in Kenya, far from getting better, has got markedly worse in the past year.

1st Jun 2006