Challenges of Eradicating Corruption in Kenya

The essays published here were written by three students from Kisii High School. These young writers were the winners of an essay competition by the Kenyan Chapter of International PEN.

John Githongo on the BBC, partisanship in Kenya's civil society

Former anti-corruption czar John Githongo just appeared on a BBC HardTalk special with Stephen Sackur. In the programme, Githongo looked to take a neutral stance on the election imbroglio but came off, perhaps predictably looking more than a little biased. Sackur seemed much more informed and neutral than the exiled Kenyan anti-graft crusader, asking Githongo pointedly whether as has been severally reported -and affirmed by the likes of Jendayi Frazer and Muthoni Wanyeki- there were massive irregularities on both sides. Even as his interlocutor asked Githongo about the violence across the country, Githongo seemed still to pretend that this was about election anger, and that both sides were equally culpable.

Read more from John Victor Ogot here.

Is KACC past its sell-by date?

Parliament voted this week to deny the KACC's quest for extra powers, limiting its authority to take on corruption cases that precede the 2003 Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act.

Coming so close after the leak of the Kroll Report and just prior to the beginning of the campaign season, the questions abound. Is this a cynical attempt to stand in the way of the Executive in an election year? Is it an example of MPs oppossing everything from the government for the sake of embarassing it? Or is the KACC and its boss truly a waste of taxpayers resources, undeserving of our sympathies and support? Should Ring'eera stand down?

Read more here.

Positive Developments on the Corruption Front

Most Kenyans, at least those who know something about most things, will have greeted the appointment of Richard Leakey to the headship of the local Transparency International Chapter with skepticism.

Kenyans may also look at the mainstream Kenyan media and its abdication of its duty as the public watchman and despair. The newspapers, the radio stations and the television stations have taken such strident biased positions that the mwananchi would be better served paying little attention to its fictions.

Such Kenyans would be encouraged then to know that no matter how poor a job Leakey does at TI, or how compromised he is seen to be from the start or what Transparency International now stands for, it having gained a reputation for being kinder to the government than the government's own agencies; there are now other guardians of the public purse.
The new organization set up around former TI head Mwalimu Mati is one of these. Mars Kenya which runs a website that tracks and catalogs governance and corruption issues.

The team at Mars Kenya has proved to be more responsive than your average Kenyan organization, responding to email and showing an all around better grasp of Kenyan issues than the average Kenyan organization. In addition to the information on their website, the organization also publishes books that seek to hold the government accountable to the public. Among these is one on an Anglo-Leasing type contract worth 39 million US$ surrounding the VSAT project at Postal Corporation of Kenya while another one of these highlights the mystery of the missing irrevocable Promissory Notes given to Anglo Leasing and Finance Limited by the Government of Kenya.

Read more on this from kenyaImagine's Stephen Wanyama.