Impact
The then-British envoy to Kenya, Sir Edward Clay, publicly raised the issue of Anglo-Leasing at a dinner in Nairobi (see the Guardian Newspaper article). He subsequently came under pressure from Kenyan politicians to make public his evidence, and was reported to have provided the President, Mwai Kibaki, with a dossier containing details of corruption in the government. However, no one was punished and the case slipped from the public eye.
Kenyan government has a well oiled law machine The system, which has a tendency to derail major corruption cases, in many ways protecting the culprits, who happen to be senior civil servants and politicians, the so called Big Fish. When put under media scrutiny, the government sites on-going investigations. The On-going investigation, is a commonly used term in Kenya, especially by the authority, it has literally replaced Moi's commission of enquiry.
For this reason corruption, Kibaki's government came to near topple in the last general election. Even though He had done well in lifting the Kenyan economy, introducing free primary education and developing new infrastructure, Kenyans still faced corrupt officers daily. The very thing they though will be past tense, was there to stay, the fact that corruption affects them in their daily life, it was always a constant reminder of NO Change. And the opposition knew best, they rode on that issue, ""corruption"".
Kenya's minister in charge of the project, Chris Murungaru, was later on banned by the UK government from travelling to Britain, on the grounds that it would not be in the public good. It was widely reported that the ban was due to corruption by Mr Murungaru involving, among others, the Anglo-Leasing scam.
On January 22, 2006, John Githongo named Vice-President Moody Awori as one of four top politicians (with Kiraitu Murungi, former justice minister and later energy minister; finance minister David Mwiraria and former transport minister Chris Murungaru) as being involved. Public sympathy for Githongo reached its peak when he released audio recordings of an incriminating conversation with David Mwiraria on the internet. He also claimed that President Mwai Kibaki was complicit in the affair. Githongo claimed that the money raised would have funded the then government's forthcoming 2005 Constitutional Referendum and 2007 Election campaign. Githongo's report can be read here. These allegations were denied by Awori and Murunguru and an investigation was promised.
In February, in an interview with the BBC, Githongo told of his meeting with Kiraitu, during which the then Justice minister tried to blackmail him over a loan his (Githongo's) father is said to owe businessman Anura Pereira. "The minister of Justice was telling me that if I eased off my inquiries, then my father's loan matter would be made to go away," Githongo said. He had an audiotape, which was played on the BBC.
Read more about this topic: Anglo-Leasing Scandal
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