KENYA: Kenya's top anti-corruption official has resigned, dealing the biggest blow so far to President Mwai Kibaki's election pledge to root out public corruption hobbling east Africa's largest economy.
In a statement, Mr John Githongo gave no reason for his decision saying only he "was no longer able to continue serving the government of Kenya". Mr Kibaki accepted his resignation. Mr Githongo was Kenya's first presidential anti-corruption adviser and the widely respected public face of the country's corruption battle.
His surprise exit is a damaging development for the beleaguered war on corruption in Kenya, which is consistently ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world by international organisations.
Britain's ambassador to Kenya, High Commissioner Sir Edward Clay, sparked a last week when he reiterated his criticism that the government was too tolerant of "massive looting" of public funds. Diplomats estimate corruption has cost Kenya $1 billion €783 million) in the last three years, or nearly a fifth of the 2004/2005 state budget spending of 440 billion shillings (€4.3 billion).
Mr Githongo, who is travelling in London, could not be reached for comment, but friends said he had increasingly become frustrated with a lack of government co-operation.
Mr Gladwell Otieno, who replaced Mr Githongo as head of anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International's Nairobi office, said his departure was no surprise and "a blow for the hopes of Kenyans".
"If he has quit it is because there is nothing that can be done about corruption," Mr Otieno said. "Obviously, it has become apparent to him that there is no political commitment in the fight against corruption that would make a difference."
Mr Githongo's departure would leave "a large hole" in Kenya's anti-graft apparatus, Mr Clay told a private- sector audience in a speech yesterday. "Personally, I esteem John Githongo as a person of integrity, courage and principle. He was intensely committed to the patriotic task of clearing corruption out of government, as a service he could perform to the people of Kenya."
A former journalist, Mr Githongo was appointed in January 2003 in one of Mr Kibaki's first tangible moves to make good on anti-corruption election pledges that helped put his government in power in December 2002. Graft characterised the 24-year rule of Mr Kibaki's predecessor, Daniel arap Moi, and led international donors to suspend aid completely for three years. Donors only resumed lending in November 2003 after Mr Kibaki put several promised reforms into place, but they have increasingly complained the government has done too little to stamp out corruption, especially at the highest levels, and risks losing vital aid unless things change.
Transparency International ranks Kenya near the bottom in a 2003 survey of investor perceptions of corruption, placing it at 122 out of 133 countries.
Sources close to Mr Githongo said his resignation was unrelated to the uproar prompted by Mr Clay's recent speech at a journalism awards dinner in Nairobi. At that event the ambassador said current officials and foreign associates of the Moi-era government were engaging in "massive looting and/or grand corruption which in toto has a huge impact on Kenya's economy".
Mr Clay, who sparked official outrage while winning public acclaim with a similar July speech, said he had given Mr Kibaki a dossier of 20 dubious tenders meriting investigation.
However the government hit back hard, taking out newspaper ads to criticise Mr Clay while ministers called him an enemy of Kenya and suggested his comments were sour grapes, prompted by Britain's loss of certain government contracts.
Public perception, as evidenced by letters to the editor and opinion columns, is that officials from the lowliest civil clerks to top ministers engage in bribery and corruption. - (Reuters)