Jan 4 (Reuters) - Kenya&${esc.hash}39;s Industrialisation Minister Henry Kosgey resigned on Tuesday after the anti-graft commission called for him to be arrested over a possible import scam, a sign the east Africa nation is cranking up its fight against graft.
Here are some facts on corruption in Kenya:
SOME FACTS:
* The Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) has said graft and misuse of funds in government constitutes 30 to 40 percent of national gross domestic product.
* Kenya ranked 154th out of 178 in Transparency International&${esc.hash}39;s 2010 corruption perceptions index, on a par with Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo-Brazzaville and Guinea-Bissau as well as Russia.
* Transparency International-Kenya (TI) published a poll in October that showed 97 percent of Kenyans view corruption as a major vice in a country that has so far failed to convict a single senior public official for graft.
* The KACC says it has entered agreements to help fight corruption in the private sector across East Africa.
* Patrick Lumumba, who heads the KACC, told Reuters he would wage war on corrupt government officials ahead of a 2012 presidential poll to prevent a repeat of major financial scams that have helped finance previous votes. [ID:nLDE69D0UR]
* Weak laws have hampered the KACC, analysts say, but Kenya&${esc.hash}39;s new constitution gives the body the power to arrest and prosecute suspects. Parliament still needs to pass the new law.
* The KACC says "bigger fish" it has netted include an assistant commissioner for revenue and a senior official at Kenya Power & Lighting Company, a power distributor.
SOME SCANDALS:
* Industrialisation Minister Henry Kosgey faces abuse of office allegations in connection with exemptions he granted to the import of hundreds of second-hand vehicles older than the eight-years age limit.
Kosgey denied any wrongdoing, saying the issuing exemptions had begun under his predecessor, and that the government coffers had not lost any cash in connection with the exemptions.
* Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula was suspended at his own request on Oct. 27 after coming under attack from parliamentarians in a heated debate, after investigators recommended he quit and stand trial for the loss of ${esc.dollar}14 million in a deal to buy a new embassy in Japan.
Shortly before Wetangula&${esc.hash}39;s announcement, his permanent secretary, Thuita Mwangi, was also given permission to leave his post temporarily.
A Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations report recommended Wetangula, Mwangi and other officials quit and stand trial for what it said was a scam.
* Suspended Higher Education Minister William Ruto appeared in the High Court on Oct. 26 and will face fraud charges in January 2011 over a land deal. President Mwai Kibaki removed him from cabinet to stand trial.
-- Ruto was in the dock alongside member of parliament Sammy Mwaita over a sale of forest land in which a state firm was defrauded.
* Nairobi Mayor Geophrey Majiwa, arrested on Oct. 25, pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit corruption over the fraudulent purchase of land near Nairobi to serve as a new cemetery for the capital. The High Court released him on bail. Kenya&${esc.hash}39;s corruption watchdog said Majiwa would face questions over his role in the fraudulent 283 million shilling (${esc.dollar}3.5 million) land deal.
* Six permanent secretaries -- senior civil servants -- are facing charges resulting from two notorious past scandals -- Goldenberg and Anglo Leasing, according to the KACC.
* Goldenberg involved the loss of at least ${esc.dollar}1 billion in central bank money via compensation payments for bogus gold and diamond exports before the 1992 election.
* The Anglo Leasing scandal, which started before the 2002 election, was first discovered in April 2004 when questions were raised in parliament about why the government overpaid on a tender for forgery-proof passports. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/ ) (Writing by Richard Lough in Nairobi and David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; editing by Matthew Jones)
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