No More Soft-Gloves on Corruption

Former Tourism Permanent Secretary Rebecca Nabutola (left) and former Kenya Tourism Board Managing Director Achieng Ongonga

Corruption may soon become a dangerous and risky pass-time for public officials and private business person engaged in corruption and money embezzlement. 

The conviction and sentencing of two former senior public officials, a permanent secretary, a tourism board managing director and a tourism board member and entrepreneur to jail terms of 4, 3 and 7 years respectively and hefty cash fines should be deterrent enough. The courts have started to bit and should do so often if corruption impunity is to be eradicated.

The action by the courts is something Kenyans have been waiting for, for a long time. Others with pending cases should take notice. "Corruption lords" in the public service should also take notice. This is not time to fight back. It is time for taking responsibility and accountability.

One does not fail to feel pity on the trio remembering that they also served in various capacities. However, the lesson is that "good work is always destroyed by one act of impropriety." There is a great honor in serving the country impeccably rather than ending in jail as a criminal. Public officials should henceforth choose the former.

Wishing Kenya Olympic Team 2012 All the Best

We would like to wish our Kenyan Olympic Team 2012 all the best in London. Bring back a host of medals. We also wish David Rudisha success in his attempt for a new world record in 800 metres. All Kenyans are behind you all. Do us proud.




It is refreshing to see our streets being used to celebrate and not a scenery of street demonstrations and politcal fights. You guys have reclaimed the Streets.

Hongera Wakenya!

Looking Beyond Oil Discovery

Oil Well Field Turkana

The recent news of oil discovery in the arid Turkana area of Northern Kenya is really good news. The discovery rewards the long search for oil.  It also comes at a time when the country is geared for long term investment projects in areas of infrastructure including roads, railways, oil pipelines, cities, airports and seaports. The recently launched Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Project (Lapsset) is the largest infrastructure project to be undertaken in Eastern and Central Africa. The Lamu Port is expected to act as the main gateway to Africa's Great Lakes region that includes the Horn of Africa, eastern Africa and central Africa. The project will include the construction of a superhighway that will link Kenya and Ethiopia and the creation of an oil pipeline from Juba in South Sudan to Lamu. The discovery of the oil will benefit from this giant infrastructural construction linking Turkana to Lamu port.

Once the size of the catch is confirmed, it will be time to look beyond the discovery to the future of Kenya as an oil producing country. Oil discovery in Africa has become a curse rather than a blessing. Instead of using the oil resource for the benefit of the country and its people in order to alleviate poverty and raise standards of living, the political elite in cohort with multinational oil corporations have plundered the resource for their own benefit. In order to avoid this path of pillage, Kenyan authorities must look beyond the discovery and envisage a future of abundance and prosperity for all Kenyan people, including the local Turkana population.

Oil revenue management is the key to prosperity. This entails transparency and avoiding deals that undermine peoples’ authority to benefit from the resource. The authorities must strike favorable agreements on resource and revenue sharing between the people and the oil companies. They must ensure that most of the revenue from the sale of oil remain and benefit the country. In other words, the government should avoid greed and act fairly for the benefit of the people.

For good managed of the oil revenue, the government should look and emulate success stories from oil producing countries, especially Norway. When Norway discovered its first oil, it was among the poorest countries in Europe. Since then, it has wisely used the oil revenue to provide its citizens with the highest living standards in the World.

The secret is to use part of the oil revenue for social and economic development and the other part for investment and revenue generation through the Norwegian Oil Fund. The oil fund was founded in 1990, and formerly known as “The Petroleum Fund Norway” before it was named “The Government Pension Fund Global” in 2006. It is managed by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), and subject to ethical guidelines laid down by the Petroleum Fund’s Advisory Council on Ethics. The aim of the fund was to ensure a sustainable use of the income from the petroleum sector.

The rationale for establishing the fund was that the return on financial assets was expected to be higher and less variable than the return on oil in the ground. The first payments into the fund were made in 1996, and from then on the fund has accumulated rapidly. In 2011, the fund was the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund overtaking the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). It has nearly NOK 3,100 billion (roughly USD 570 billion) in the fund today.  The fund was set up to give the government room for maneuvering in fiscal policy should oil prices drop or the mainland economy contract. It also served as a tool to manage the financial challenges of an ageing population and an expected drop in petroleum revenue. The fund was designed to be invested for the long term, but in a way that made it possible to draw on when required.

Looking beyond oil discovery to transparent and sound oil revenue management is the only way to ensure that oil discovery becomes a blessing and not a curse.  It can be done, what is required is political will and a people oriented approach as the Norwegian case reveals.

Election Date: Kenyans Should Support Institutions not Individual Politicians

The announcement of general election date by the Independent Election and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has raised a lot of hue and cry from politicians. Those opposed to the date want to tell us that the IEBC is not independent. The Prime Minister Raila Odinga even attempted to trash the decision by the Court as illegal.  This is chilling as one recalls what happened after his insistence that the Courts were not independent in 2007/08 election conflict and therefore could not impartially arbitrate the dispute. This time round, Kenyans should support the decision made by the IEBC and the Courts and not what individual politicians guided by their political interests purport to say is the truth. Kenya can maintain peace only if the democratic institutions are given a chance to arbitrate legal issues politicians cannot agree upon.

The genesis of the current problem is the lack of agreement among the politicians on the date of the next general election. When the matter went to the courts, the constitutional court gave two scenarios. Firstly, it held that election can be within 60 days after the end of current parliament life 15 January 2013, and second, an earlier date upon agreement between the President and Prime Minister to dissolve the ruling coalition government. Immediately after the ruling the Prime Minister while he insinuated consultation could be held between him and the President publicly announced December 2012 as his preferred date. The President early this month came out publicly too and indicated that his preference is 2013 after the expiry of the life of the Parliament and in accordance with the ruling of the Constitutional Court.

Due to a lack of agreement between the two Principals, the dissolution of the coalition became moot. The intervention of the IEBC only gave operation to the decision of the Court. Reading malice and ill-motive in the actions of the IEBC is a recipe for chaos and politician should restrain themselves. The public too should not let political interests of politician lead the country into an emotional distrust of the country’s democratic institutions.

At the same time, this situation gives the electorate a golden opportunity to assess the leadership qualities of the politicians, especially, the aspiring presidential candidates. From their reactions to the issue at hand, one can clearly distinguish the level-headed rational and nationally out-looking ones from the wavering or 'watermelons' and the reckless firebrands who could ignite the country at any cost.  In the first category you find Musalia Mudavadi, Uhuru Kenyatta, Raphael Tuju, Mutava Musymi, George Saitoti, Eugene Wamalwa and Peter Kenneth. In the second category is the professional middle road man Kalonzo Musyoka and the last category Raila Odinga, William Ruto and Martha Karua.

ICC Confirmation Cases: Rumours and Perceptions but Little Evidence

I followed the two Kenya ICC confirmation cases at The Hague closely, and as the curtains drew at the close of the hearings and without the benefit of the confidential sessions of the Court, my final characterization of the prosecution case is Rumours and Perceptions but Little Evidence. This may sound harsh to the prosecution case and victims but bear with me as I demonstrate my reasoning.


Perhaps one aspect which was not clearly exposed by the defence in both cases is that Kenya is a rumour mongering and perceptions’ society. The society thrives on rumours and perceptions about rivals and opponents be they political, economic or ethnic. The problem manifests itself prominently on the political sphere. Having experienced brutal and violent colonial rule followed with dictatorship after independence, Kenyans are highly suspicious about government and official explanation of facts. Even without evidence, the public is inclined to believe unsubstantiated contrary allegations. The situation becomes dangerously contagious when institutions such as opposition parties, media, civil society and religious bodies uncritically repeat and reinforce the allegations. At the same time, personal and mass communication technologies aid the swift diffusion of the rumours. The rumours and perceptions created take a life of their own and become the unofficial truth.

The picture becomes complex because the avenues to access public information freely without being confronted by the "infamous" Secrecy Act are limited. The persons who try to explain the official position are the same people the public does not trust: public officers, police, and politicians. For example, few seem to believe what the spokesperson of the government Dr Alfred Mutua says. However, when an opposition political leader, civil society organisations, media, or other non-government institutions make unsubstantiated claims, people tend to believe them and not Mutua. 

During the pre- and post election many rumours and perceptions were manufactured, traded and spread without caring about their veracity. The most potent were that elections were to be rigged, the incumbent cannot win the election without rigging, it is 1 tribe against 41, the electoral commission was doctoring the presidential results, Ugandan soldiers were shooting and killing Kenyans in the Western province and Nyanza alongside Kenya police officers, the administration police force was being used to rig the elections in favour of Kibaki, the State House was used by Mungiki for meeting to plan retaliation, the police was partial and allowed mungiki to kill and displace ODM supporters in Naivasha and Nakuru, the judiciary cannot be trusted to be an impartial umpire in an election dispute, Mungiki were supplied with police uniform, guns and transported in military trucks to Naivasha and Nakuru, etc, etc.

Unfortunately all these strains of rumours and allegations found their way into the ICC in form of prosecution evidence . The prosecution did not attempt to verify trueness of these rumours and perceptions. For instance no statement was solicited from the suspects and no exculpatory evidence was collected and presented by the prosecution even where would be readily available. It was quite easy for the defence to punch holes in the prosecution evidence by carrying out independent investigations and presenting the exculpatory evidence to the court. This was the most embarrassing aspect of the prosecution case because they hardly countered defence assertion of lack of verification.

With the scarcity of evidence from the prosecution, the Court has no choice but to critically look at the evidence presented by the defence vis a vis the allegations by the prosecution. Fortunately, the government of Kenya, more so in the second case involving Muthaura, Kenyatta and Ali has pealed the veil of secrecy and tried to offer an insight of how the government operates as opposed to the theories offered by the prosecution.

The confirmation judges will choose either to believe the prosecution claims that they have better evidence than what they have not disclosed at this stage or be persuaded by the submissions of the defence teams that the prosecution have no substantial evidence as they did not carry out independent investigation in the matter apart from relying on rumours and perceptions as narrated by anonymous witnesses and gathered from secondary sources. It might be rather difficult this time round for the Judges to acquiescence to the prosecution evidence as presented in order to confirm the charges.

Whatever decision the Court arrives at, the suspects and victims and the Kenya society have had their day in court. Impunity has been exposed and the failure of the government to investigate and prosecute clearly manifested. But the worst would be the exposition of lack of due diligence in the prosecution investigations, if the charges are not confirmed.

Kenya Celebrates Second Mashujaa Day!

This year’s Mashujaa Day Celebrations started with the unveiling of a statue commemorating and honoring Tom Mboya. It took 42 years for Kenya to honor and celebrate their slain son as a hero. Mboya was felled by an assassin’s bullet in the streets of Nairobi as he came out of a chemist shop in 1969. He was killed when his star was rapidly rising in the political arena. He was tipped to be the likely successor to the first President Jomo Kenyatta.

Mboya's becomes the second of Kenyan Heros Statues, to immortalize the streets of Nairobi. The first was that of the Mau Mau hero Dedan Kimathi. As Kenyans celebrate this day today, they will remember tens of heroes and heroines whose heroic deeds have not been immortalized yet. Quite fresh in memory will be Professor Wangari Maathai who passed on last month.

This day, however, is not only dedicated to the known heroes and heroines. It is also a day to honor the many ordinary and unsung heroes and heroines of our country who dedicate their lives to the service for their fellow Kenyans. One such heroine is Ms Ann Mwangi, featured in today's Daily Nation, who rescued a baby girl that had been abandoned in a dumpsite and has given her a new lease of life and motherly love. Mwangi runs her own Children’s home that now cares for 17 children.

Also today, we should especially remember the men and women of our military who are engaged in the service of protecting our borders against terrorist acts by the al Shabaab. The success of their mission depends on our unequivocal support at this critical moment. Before sending the military to fight the al Shabaab terrorist group, Kenyan borders and sovereignty was violated time and again by insurgent groups from neighboring countries. This action, regrettable as it is, should be a reminder to our neighbors that peace demands dual respect of territorial integrity of your neighboring countries. This is not a war against the Somalia people who cherishes peace and have been supported by Kenyans for many years as they fled their country but it is against the evil groups that have made their country ungovernable.

Wangari Maathai - Your Legacy Lives On!

Conglatulating Wangari during award of Sophie Price Oslo Norway

Professor Wangari Maathai though gone she lived a life full of achievements and controversy and will be remember for decades to come. She dominated the Kenyan political arena like no other woman has ever done. She also scored many firsts in her life: The first woman to attain a Doctorate degree in Kenya if not East Africa; The first Woman with the title Professor in Kenya; The first woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Price in Africa; only to mention the most prominent achievements.

In controversy she was as elegant as in her achievements. She shook the political scene when she opposed the building of the tallest building in Nairobi Uhuru Park by the KANU government of Former President Moi. No amount of insults and harassment by the government could deter her. Through her campaigns, she drew massive support locally and internationally that finally compelled the government to relent and abandon the project.

Celebrating Sophie Price Award Oslo Noway

Wangari Maathai did not shy from controversy especially when she believed in the goodness of the cause. In 1992, she joined and supported the Mothers of political prisoners who had camped in the Uhuru Park Freedom Corner when other prominent women in Kenya could not dare. For this and her numerous political, social and economic struggles makes her the Heroine of the Second Liberation in Kenya.

Wangari Maathai, however, will be remembered most for her love and struggle for the environment. Her Green Belt Movement and tree planting campaign will live forever.

The greatest tribute we can bestow Wangari Maathai is whenever you see a tree, remember Wangari. At the same time, whenever we  plant a tree in her honor we will perpetuate her legacy.

ICC: Sober, Humane, Stern and Professional

The epitome of the ICC Kenya Pre-Trial cases at The Hague is the presiding Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova or simply “Madam President”. She cut a simple, smiling and polite demeanor which was supplemented with an incisive and strict manner in conduct of business in the Court. Everybody in the court was acknowledged and made to feel comfortable but readily made aware of the serious business before them. From day one of the confirmation of charges hearing in Case No. 1, involving William Ruto, Henry Kosegy and Joshua Sang, the Prosecutor, Defence Counsels and Representative of Victims were reminded time was of essence. Madam President instilled in them that sense in confining their submissions to the issues of the case and being precise in order to save time. Hence, a case that was allocated 15 days was over within 8 days.

It was noteworthy, that there was no room for drama and waste of time in the court, the Kenyan style. The usual ‘defence – prosecution’ drama was missing and when it attempted to creep in, the judges were fast to put a halt to it. Perhaps, this was the biggest lesson for the Kenyan public, judges and legal fraternity glued in front of their TV sets for the duration of the trial. Trial is not a drama and circus that should devour time without end. It is a business that should be finished in the shortest time possible without compromising the integrity of the trial and justice. After all, justice delayed is justice denied.

The other lesson is that you can be strict and humane without the need for threats. The presiding judge was the hallmark of professionalism. Where it was necessary to straighten up a matter, like when some of the suspects and their counsels were amused by witness testimony, she was polite but stern. Witnesses were treated by the court with a lot of understanding and respect. At the same time, the court did not hesitate to remind them why they were there especially when they tried to introduce extraneous matters in their testimony.

Whatever the outcome of this case and the next one, Kenyans have had a taste of international justice process and it is quite different from the national one. The court can be humane and professional at the same time. In addition, impunity cannot enjoy protection any more. In future, the 'lords of impunity' will pause to think before engaging in acts that might result into international crimes. As we noted in an earlier post, whether the charges are confirmed or not, the victims and the people of Kenya are the winners.

Burden of Compensating Retired Public Officials: Can the Country Afford?

The list of retired or redundant public officials claiming compensation from the public purse grows by the day.  The high profile of these officials led by the former President Daniel arap Moi, Vice President Moody Awour includes judges who opted to retired with full pension after the 2003 judicial radical surgery, former Members of Parliament, and former Kenya Anti-corruption Commission Aroan Ringera and other commissioners. Within the new constitutional dispensation, many judges will be retired, the current KACC director and commissioners have been shown the door, many MPs will lose their seats in the coming election, not to mention the President will retire, and who knows the Prime Minister and the Vice President may too retire or might not be elected back to public office. Then there are judicial officials and judges due to be retired according to the current constitution vetting requirement. The list goes on especially when we include lower profile officials like permanent secretaries. Can the country really afford to foot the monetary compensation bills for all these officers?

If the current trend continues, the country will drown under the bills of compensation. It is, therefore, important to rethink and restate the essence of public service. Does public service entitle the holder of an office unmitigated pecuniary advantage? Can the public afford to pay exaggerated compensation to these officers as the private sector does? Sometimes the money is being paid for services not rendered as in the case of compensating one for the remaining term of contract. Should officers who leave office and subsequently find new employment or are self-employed continue to draw benefits associated with their former employment? Isn't it a case of double payment to compensate such officers? I raise these issues because it is important to have debate on the matter. Just think about the current issue of compensating the MPs so that they can pay taxes due according to the law. Can the country afford this waste of public resources?

In Norway, the practice is that officers who leave their office because of retirement, change of law or government, do not get unmitigated compensation. Those who retire are entitled to retirement benefits just like any other worker during their retirement. The retirement benefits are calculated not according to your office but the number of years you served and the points you accumulated during that period. You do not get anything beyond what you have not earned for your retirement. If you retire and then get a new job elsewhere, you cannot continue to draw your retirement benefits at the same time as you get a salary from your new job.

Where public officials leave office due to change of law or government, such as cabinet ministers or MPs due to new election, they do not get exorbitant compensation. The practice is that they continue to draw their salaries for a limited time period or until they find new employment whichever comes first.

In 2010, the National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime (Økomrim) prosecuted two former MPs, Conservative (H) MP Anders Talleraas and ex Centre Party (Sp) MP Magnus Stangeland for illegally drawing a total of over three million kroner in pensions, because they had well-paid jobs at the same time. It also claimed the two failed to give Parliament’s Pensions Board (Pensjonsstyret) proper information about their incomes, which would have meant losing their right to receive a so-called self-awarded “golden pension”. Gro Harlem Brundtland, a former Prime Minister, was herself part of a group of six who received a higher pension than they were entitled to at the time, however, she paid back what she had received voluntarily several years before the case exploded in the media in 2008. She later testified in the case involving the two. They were found guilty and received custodial sentences of 6 months and 60 days, respectively.

The former Prime Minister was also involved in another controversy after receiving an operation for cancer in 2002 at Ullevål University Hospital. In 2008, it became known that during 2007 she had received two treatments at Ullevål, paid for by Norwegian public expenditures. She had previously notified the Norwegian authorities that she had changed residence to France, and as such she was no longer entitled to benefits of Norwegian social security. Following intense media attention surrounding the matter, Brundtland decided to change residence once more, back to Norway, and she also announced that she would be paying for the treatments herself.

Isn’t it a high time that the public were informed the true figures involved in these compensation schemes? The Treasury through the Minister of Finance should give an official statement to parliament on the matter. The media should too carry out its own investigative research on the matter for public information.

See related view:

Compensation: Since when didpublic office become property of incumbents?

Kenyans for Kenya: Recapturing the Spirit of Harambee!

The initiative “Kenyans for Kenya” is an effort by ordinary Kenyans and business corporations to aid Kenyans suffering from hunger and malnutrition in Turkana and North Eastern parts of the country.  It is based on a simple concept: “For as little as Ksh 10 you can save a hungry child from death. Together, we can save many lives. Take action today.” It urges Kenyans to - Pick up your phone and send your donation to M-PESA PayBill 111111 or KCB account No. 1133333338.

Already, the initiative has received over Ksh 650 million in cash, kind and pledges. The target,which originally was Ksh 500 million was extended to Ksh 1 billion. The initiative has been hailed as the most successful Kenyan humanitarian movement by Kenyans for helping fellow Kenyans in need. And, indeed it is. Since independence Kenyans have never shown so much generosity. Nevertheless, the spirit of giving and being my brother’s keeper is not new to Kenyans. The free “Harambee Spirit” emerged immediately after independence and was based on the same simple concept of communities joining hands to solve their local individual and common problems: such as providing a shelter for a needy neighbor, education for needy neighbor’s child, to providing education and health to communities through Harambee schools and Harambee dispensaries and health care centres. The spirit extended to other aspects of daily lives of the people through Harambee projects addressing different problems such as food, water, roads, land purchases and infrastructure.

From its inception, Harambee was free and voluntary. Such was the beauty of the Harambee Spirit before it was high jacked and made compulsory by the political class in the 80s and 90s. The political class, which was now competing against each other, measured ones generosity by how much you coughed out during Harambee fund raising rallies. This completely alienated common Kenyans from the Harambee as they felt intimidated by the volumes of cash contributed by the politicians.  To involve the public, the administrative authorities – chiefs, district officers (Dos), district commissioners (DCs), provincial officers (PCs), heads of departments and even Permanent Secretaries – compulsorily collected money from government employees and members of public who sort services from these officers. The free and voluntary spirit of Harambee was hence dangerously violated.

In my opinion, the novelty of the initiative “Kenyans for Kenya” is the recapturing of the Free and Voluntary Spirit of Harambee and restoring it back to its owners – the public. The technological solution of Mpesa is Godsend as it has enabled Kenyans to contribute freely and voluntarily the amount they have and wish to give. Indigenous corporations such as Safaricom, KCB, Kenya Airways, Equity bank, media houses, etc and humanitarian organizations such as Red Cross need our support as they are true partners for our social and economic development. I don’t mean by this to discriminate against foreign corporations that too play an important role in our social and economic development but I am only re-emphasizing the saying that “charity begins at home”. By taking charge of our affairs, foreigners can only join us to help us achieve our goals at our own terms and they will not set the agenda for us.

Together we can change the face of Kenya from one of poverty to one of prosperity. Take Action Now and donate to  M-PESA PayBill 111111 or KCB account No. 1133333338.

Scenes of Hunger, Scenes of Plenty! - What Solution?

Extreme Hunger in Turkana

What a contrast? While some parts of Kenya, particularly Turkana and Northern Eastern province, people are dying of hunger, in some areas in the country farmers do not know what to do with bumper harvest that is rotting in the farms and fed to livestock. Why should a Kenyan die of hunger while food is in plenty in other parts of the country? Well, the weather cannot be blamed this time round. Distribution logistics seems to be the culprit. The current hunger problem could easily be solved with the movement of food from areas with plenty to those that are in need. However, the big question is how to achieve that? In a normal situation, the market should be able to facilitate the movement of food to areas with high demand. However, from two perspectives - the Market and Humanitarian perspectives - this is not happening seen.

Rotting Cabbages and Potatoes in Central Kenya

The market operates on demand and supply principles. In the areas with high supply, the demand is low. That is why the food is left to rot or is given to overfed livestock. On the other hand, in the areas with high demand, the supply is lacking. That is why people are dying every day. From an economic and market perspective this is not a problem because the food should be able to flow from the areas of high supply to the areas of high demand. So what is the missing link?

In my opinion, the missing link is what I call lack of "distribution stimuli". A stimulus is something that rouses or accelerates action, feeling, or thought. It’s also something that provokes response. For the market to respond, hunger and death is not enough. The market is roused by the opportunity for monetary and economic gains. This is absent in a situation where the people dying of hunger lack purchasing power. Hence, from an economic and market perspective the problem of distribution is basically the lack of purchasing power. Of course, other factors such as insecurity and lack of infrastructure may play a role in hindering distribution but these are secondary and not primary. The purchasing power of the people living in the regions afflicted by hunger should be boosted in order to stimulate distribution. If there was money to make, merchants would quickly find a way to take food into these areas.

Lack of purchasing power condemns the people of Turkana and North Eastern of Kenya to the vagaries of humanitarian aid. It is a character of humanitarian aid not to move into an area before a catastrophe has happened. Before pictures of malnutrition and dying children and women flash around in the media, humanitarian aid will not mobilize. At the same time, the government will deny any presence of a crisis and the scale of humanitarian organizations’ response remains low. When humanitarian aid moves in, at last, the situation is usually out of hand. This is what is happening in country today. Humanitarian mobilization is in high gear but for many it comes too late.

When a crisis occurs, immediate humanitarian action is necessary to avert a serious catastrophe in the short-term. However, a long-term solution should be economic empowering for those affected so as to increase their purchasing power and stimulate distribution.