by Samuel Ngari
Corruption is undoubtedly one reason Kenya lags behind 60 years after independence. Corruption over the years has been deeply rooted in this country and efforts to deal with it have proved futile with many politicians using the same law to protect their incorrigible actions.
Many politicians have bent the law to serve their best interests and evade accountability and just like King Canute the waters are above our chins as a country and still, we are not budging to catch the culprits.
Goldenberg Scandal.
A wise man called Maina Kai once said you can get away with anything in Kenya if you have a good lawyer. This has motivated political satyrs in this country to get away with anything while the same law has been so harsh to paupers, who have gotten long jail terms. Kai was the chairman of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights during the Goldenberg scandal era. He called out the government after George Saitoti was cleared by parliament from being prosecuted by the then-serving attorney general, Amos Wako.
This is a scandal that was just dubious and unbelievable. It was characterized by subsidized gold production to a company and individuals who claimed to be exporting gold and diamonds that did not even exist. This orchestrated comedy act cost Kenyan taxpayers an estimated US 600$-1500$ and to add salt to the injury none of the money lost in the Goldenberg affair has been repaid.
Even after a thorough judicial inquiry, no one was ever found guilty of any criminal activities, with George Saitoti the then Finance Minister, denying the allegations by the Bosire Commission even though he approved millions of pounds to be paid to Kamlesh Pattni the brains behind the scheme.
Pattni confessed that he took sacks full of cash to Former President Moi’s office, but Moi denied all knowledge of the scheme.
Anglo-leasing Scandal.
This is a scandal scheme that further illustrated, Kenya as a corruption-led country. The government aimed to acquire security and communication equipment that were overpriced or never delivered. They also awarded a company to supply a passport printing system at an exaggerated cost. Most of the companies awarded contracts were non-existent very comical right and shady since the country’s top legislators were mandated to invest money in credible places.
Both the current President then Mwai Kibaki and the former President Moi, implicated themselves since the dubious scandal went on during both their stay in government but they reneged on the allegations.
Just like the Pandora papers which were suspiciously ignored, in this scandal investigations led by both the Kenyan and British governments led to money being found in offshore accounts in the British Virgin Islands. This further showed how offshore accounts have been used to mask financial fraud making it hard to apprehend the culprits.
The scandal led to Kenya’s being sanctioned by the British government, also ruining Kenya’s reputation and the trust between it and its financial creditors. Deepak Kamani and his co-accused who were the masterminds in this scandal, were acquitted in 2013 by the court due to a lack of evidence which caused a lot of anger among Kenyans.
Eurobond Scandal.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta and his then-deputy William Ruto had to deal with a lot of scandals during their era. A $2 billion bond was issued in 2014 into two trenches but later became a controversy. Half the Sh 215.5 billion borrowed by way of the Eurobond were untraceable, says Auditor General Ouko. To date, the whereabouts of the Eurobond money remains a mystery just as illustrated in the previous infamous scandals. The then Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Economic Planning of Kenya, Henry Rotich failed to shed light on where the billions went. This scandal has raised concerns about this country’s debt sustainability and just like many other scandals it has fueled mistrust about promises of highly anticipated government developments.
NYS Scandal.
The National Youth Scandal was an orchestrated act of embezzling funds within the Ministry of Devolution, with 791 million said to have been stolen from the Ministry. Some even claim the amount to have been as high as Sh 1.8 billion.
Key suspect Josephine Kabura who is said to have been the owner of at least 11 companies that won various contracts at the National Youth Service, later blamed it on her boss by then, Ann Waiguru who was the Cabinet for the Ministry of Devolution and Planning. This later led to Waiguru stepping down as the cabinet secretary even after Deputy President Willian Ruto initially sided with her, though he later retracted calling for accountability for the money lost.
Kipchumba Murkomen, who was also mentioned together with long-term President William Ruto’s aide Farouk Kibet still boasts high seats in the government. Paul Njoroge who was the current governor of CBK and the 9th governor of CBK according to PAC recommendations should have been prosecuted for abetting a money laundering scheme.
Kimwarer and Arror dams.
The Jubilee government had a lot going on or a couple of scandals up their sleeves. This involved an Italian Firm, CMC di Ravenna, and 28 government officials that included 28 government officials, including Henry Rotich and his PS Kamau Thugge.
Ironically Kamau Thugge is the current Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya who was Nominated by the President, while Rotich is the senior adviser for fiscal affairs and budget policy for Ruto. His appointment came after a month of being exonerated from the scandal and others of any wrongdoing in the case.
The Italian construction company despite being slapped with taxpayers’ hard-earned money failed to build the highly anticipated dams. But not all hope is lost our truthful President William Ruto in March 2023 promised to revive the project when Sergio Mattarella, the Italian President was on an official tour in Kenya. Two months to 2025 the project is yet to be launched, maybe we are being taught patience.
KEMSA scandals and COVID-19 Funds.
KEMSA found itself in the news for the wrong reasons after its corrupt officials embezzled at least $ 1. 353 million which equates to approximately Sh 185 million in a donor-funded campaign. A Sh 3.7 billion tender flopped which was intended for the supply of treated bed nets to prevent malaria for poor income households.
In 2019 the enactment of the Health Laws Amendment Act gave KEMSA an absolute monopoly over the supply over the supply of drugs to both national and county health facilities to obtain drugs and medical supplies from the agency. A two-year jail term or a Sh 2 million fine would be imposed on anyone who failed to procure supplies from KEMSA. Making it a monopoly makes it a multi-billion-dollar company and in 2020 KEMSA was accused of mishandling a Sh 7.7 billion tender in which lost 1.5 billion in shady deals for the procurement of COVID-19 personal protective equipment, and this led to Former President Uhuru's dissolving the entire board.
The EACC cited irregular expenditure arising from tenders awarded to politically connected companies. The EACC itself has failed to prove itself as a formidable body that can shrewdly deal with corruption.
All this continuous lack of accountability is the reason why corruption and other types of fraud have grown exponentially in this country over the years since everyone is entitled to a piece of this corruption-ridden country.
Dear reader these are just a few cases of the long deep web of lies and high-ranking officials who continue covering up for each other and like Senator Onyonka said, politicians are no longer stealing millions they are competing on stealing billions. Sad!
God must be tired of corrupt leaders thanking Him for their unscrupulous sinful ways to acquire wealth while the poor continue impoverishing. But hey, they can’t be the Devil, right?
Today if you are not corrupt as a Kenyan you are perceived as some ghetto snob and show you how we have normalized this virus to loom over us. Sacking corrupt officials is not enough, let them sit in jail too, and refund taxpayers’ money. Of course, I would be rude to act oblivious to the many efforts made to fight corruption, but we have a long way to go.
How many other scandals are in the cooking? Adani? SHA? Kenya Power? I guess time will tell, and hoping we won’t charade an act of wasting taxpayers’ money in the name of catching the culprits.
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