President Mwai Kibakis government is strong on anti-graft rhetoric but short on effective action, The Financial Times reports.
When Kibaki made a speech recently, one theme dominated – his “war on corruption”. But questions remain about the governments commitment to stamping out graft as reports of scandals continue to emerge, many implicating members of the administration, according to the World Bank press review Thursday.
So far, there have been no notable corruption-based convictions, and senior government officials publicly tainted with graft remain in office, says the news report.
At stake are attempts to drag the nation of 30 million people out of a decade of increasing poverty and restore the credibility of an administration that took office amid a wave of euphoria following a rare, peaceful democratic transition on the worlds poorest continent.
Since Kibakis National Rainbow Coalition won December 2002 elections few of its election pledges have been met and economic growth in 2003 rose a paltry 0,6 percent to 1,8 percent. Instead of widespread changes there have been repeated spats within the shaky coalition and failure to pass new legislation deemed critical to the reform agenda.
Between 1990 and 2001, the number of Kenyans living below the poverty line rose from 48 percent of the population to 56 percent, and more than 2 million people face severe food shortages.
Yet the countrys richest 10 percent control 42 percent of the total income in Kenya, giving the nation the tag of fifth most “unequal” country in Africa, according to a recent Society for International Development report.
The Financial Times further reports that Nairobi city council, where billions of shillings have been plundered by corrupt officials and lost to poor management, is a prime example of the systemic corruption crippling Kenyas economy.
Years of rampant graft have rendered the council technically insolvent, according to a government report, and the provision of services is “riddled with misappropriation and embezzlement”.
Home to 3 million people, Nairobi is the heart of Kenyas economy. By the end of June 2002 the council had accumulated deficits of 5,3 billion shillings and overdue financial obligations of 16,2 billion shillings. It is collecting about 4,5 billion shillings per year, but has the potential to double that to 10 billion shillings if corruption was stamped out and “financial discipline put in place”, the report says.
Meanwhile, the World Bank is to help the Kenyan government conduct an unprecedented audit of the banks projects in Kenya in a bid to stamp out graft. The move follows the discovery of corruption in a 115 million US dollar bank-funded Kenya urban transport infrastructure project (KUTIP) in 2001.
Makhtar Diop, the banks country director, said that the government initiated the review after the investigation into the KUTIP project was handed over to Kenyan authorities last week, but added that the banks department of institutional integrity would assist with the audit.
Diop said the bank was concerned about the corruption allegations but the government was moving in the right direction. – The government has had capacity problems, which has slowed down the reform process, and some problems in the ministry of finance which are being addressed, he said.
– We hope that in the coming months, with additional capacity, the government will speed up the implementation of its reform program, added he.
The review will cover about seven projects involving 295 million US dollar disbursed by the bank. The bank has earmarked 75 million dollar in budgetary support to Kenya this year, dependent on the governments reform agenda.
The Standard of Kenya further reports that the World Bank is demanding the immediate prosecution of individuals who squandered KUTIP funds. Sources close to the Bank indicated that an agreement had been reached with the government to forward a forensic audit report on the project to the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) for criminal investigation.
The audit, initiated by the government of Kenya with the support of the Bank, is said to have identified significant areas of possible corruption and other control mechanism weaknesses in the project.
Diop described the KUTIP project as an important case for the World Bank. He said the case had attracted both local and international interest and must be handled in an open manner.
– We deplore the diversion of funds from a project that had been meant to help the Kenyan people improve their lives, he said.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
