KENYA: Kenya's corruption crisis deepened yesterday with the US announcing it was suspending its funding to anti-sleaze measures.
The British government also said it was also reviewing contributions, following the resignation of Kenya's leading anti-corruption official.
It is the latest setback for the government of President Mwai Kibaki as he attempts to roll back 24 years of rampant sleaze under the former regime of Daniel Arap Moi. His most senior corruption fighter, Mr John Githongo, resigned on Monday amid mounting international criticism that Kenya was dragging its feet on reform.
Yesterday, Mr William Bellamy, the US ambassador to Kenya, told a business conference that his government would withhold about $2.5 million during the next two years.
A further $7 million of funding is also threatened, he said, unless Mr Kibaki is able to prove his determination to root out corruption.
"We are eager to work with Kenya to improve governance, and we are in a position to be generous in this regard," Mr Bellamy said.
"But we cannot be helpful when all the evidence suggests that government isn't serious or, worse, that government is the source of the problem."
He warned that the country faced being overwhelmed by a new wave of corruption that had developed in the past two years.
"We know now that the fledgling steps, the good intentions, the strong statements issued by President Kibaki have not been enough to begin to change the culture of corruption in Kenya," said Mr Bellamy.
Donors initially welcomed Mr Kibaki's attempts to cut corruption after his election on an anti-sleaze ticket in 2002.
Transparency International, a global watchdog, praised the appointment of Mr Githongo, one of its former country directors.
Last November the International Monetary Fund and other donors resumed loans to Kenya after a four-year suspension.
However, Mr Githongo, appointed in January 2003, had privately maintained that his efforts should only be judged after two years in the job.
Two years on, and the country remains rooted close to the foot of international corruption league tables.
Yesterday, a spokesman for the British High Commission said the UK shared the concerns of the US.
He said British contributions to Kenya's Governance Justice and Law and Order Sector programme, worth about £1 million this year, would be reviewed.