From: joachim omolo ouko
News Dispatch with Father Omolo Beste
SATURDAY, MAY 10, 2014

Brian from Vihiga, Kenya writes: Dear Fr Omolo, thank you for your inspiring and informative articles, especially your homilies which I like reading very much. It is good you send them on Saturdays so I go to Church well informed.

My problem Father is with Anglo Leasing scandals. Honestly I don’t understand it. Can you give me its background and if possible people who were implicated. I heard Waweru Mburu of Citizen Radio with his yalio tendeka program saying even President Uhuru knows about it very well, Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Francis Muthaura and many others currently in this government.

Surely Father, if they know it is a scandal why do they push for illegal payment? Don’t you think as Waweru Mburu fearlessly says that this is just another way of stealing money from taxpayers? Mburu says these cartels are in Uk to be paid money, only to share it back to individual and powerful Kenyans in this government. Surely let us pray for Kenya.”

I can understand your sentiments Brian. This is the concern of Kenyans that this money must not be paid because it will add burden on them. The scandal is alleged to have started when the Kenyan government wanted to replace its passport printing system, in the year 1997, but came to light after revelation by Permanent Secretary for Governance and Ethics John Githongo on January 22, 2006 when he named Vice-President Moody Awori as one of four top politicians in Kibaki government involved in the scandals.

Others he named were Kiraitu Murungi, Energy Minister; Finance Minister David Mwiraria and Chris Murungaru as being involved in scams worth $600m – known as the Anglo Leasing scandal. He also claimed that President Kibaki was complicit in the affair.

Githongo claimed that the money raised would have funded the government’s forthcoming election campaign which was due in December 2007. Although these allegations were denied by Awori and Murungaru, the promise by Kibaki government that they would investigate the matter was never done.

This was an indication that actually Githongo was right to say that the money was meant to rig 2007 general elections in Kibaki’s favor. It was alleged that part of this money was used to mobilize, coordinate, finance and provide logistical support for the Mungiki during the Post Election Violence (PEV).

The key preparatory meetings include those held in Nairobi on or about 30 December 2007 (at the State House), on or about 3 January 2008 (at the Nairobi Club) and in early, mid and late January 2008. It was also alleged that there preparatory meetings in Central Province on or about 31 December 2007, in Nakuru in early to mid January 2008 and in Naivasha in late January 2008. Francis Muthaura’s name features because it was alleged that he was the chief organizer.

It was alleged that the attacks entailed a high level of coordination between different Mungiki groups as well as between local and non-resident Mungiki members and pro-PNU youth. The attacks involved the distribution of weapons to direct perpetrators; transportation of foreign Mungiki and pro-PNU youth from Central Province and Nairobi to the Rift Valley; identification of perceived ODM supporters by local pro-PNU youth; and perpetration of acts of violence by groups of attackers moving together.

Since the electoral system in Kenya is based on constituencies whose boundaries are congruent with the boundaries of tribal areas, is one of the reasons why a lot of money is needed towards general elections. Former President Moi used to do exactly that.

Moi exploited the Kenyan diversity and politicised ethnicity to levels where he could instigate clashes in districts and provinces with mixed groups, a practice he perfected in the 90’s in order to discredit the onset of multiparty democracy in Kenya.

Politically motivated ethnic clashes were used to disrupt and displace populations and groups that supported the opposition (mainly the Kikuyu in Rift Valley, Luo in the slums of Nairobi and Mombasa). He also used divide and rule tactics, pitting on group against another and at times bought politician through patronage in order to have more support in parliament. These tactics ensured that that the opposition lost the elections of 1992 and 1997.

Such tacticts was also seen in 2005 when people’s disgust with Kibaki’s regime was expressed at the 2005 referendum in which the Wako Draft (a diluted version of the Boma’s draft, which was a constitutional product of a people led process) was defeated. Seven provinces made up of diverse ethnic groups voted for “NO” while the Yes vote was only represented by central province. It could explain why, even though John Githongo told President Mwai Kibaki about the corruption that involved Anglo Leasing, but the president failed to act.

Githongo said he made the tape secretly during a meeting with Kiraitu Murungi, who was Kenya’s justice minister at the time of the meeting. Kiraitu was later removed from Justice Ministry to Energy Minister.

On the tape heard by the BBC, the minister was heard telling Githongo that the loan was owed to a businessman with links to powerful politicians and that if he went slowly on his investigation the businessman would also go slow. These powerful politicians form part of cartels of corruption in Kenya.

Mr Githongo says government money was being paid to companies that did not exist or to others which were massively overpricing their contracts. He believed the finance was being given to business figures close to the government, who were then re-directing some of it back to the ruling elite for political campaigning.

These individual but powerful Kenyans used Deepak Kamani to achieve this goal-Deepak Kamani is the son of Chamanlal Kamani and brother to Rashmi Chamanlal Kamani and Sudha Ruperell. Deepak Kamani is involved in the Kamani family businesses of Kenya, including the flagship company Kamsons.

In 2006, he and his brother Rashmi had a bounty of Sh100, 000 placed on their heads by the anti-corruption detectives. They were wanted for questioning about the Anglo Leasing. After being captured, he was released, without further problems. He later filed a lawsuit against Star newspaper for character assassination for running a story that he owned Sh 3.8 billion to the Kenyan taxpayers. This tells a lot of type of the government Kenya has.

Since David Mwiraria was accused of warning off investigations into Anglo Leasing, it can explain clearly why Deepak Kamani and his brother Rashmi were captured but later released without further problems.

Again, since the multimillion dollar “Anglo Leasing” corruption scam involved contracts for a company that existed in name only, is a reason to conclude that Mr Mwiraria, who was one of President Mwai Kibaki’s key allies, warned the Anglo Leasing deals could not be investigated.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail obolobeste@gmail.com

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