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Fourth Kenyan minister facing graft case

by Katy Migiro | @katymigiro | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Wednesday, 12 January 2011 18:20 GMT

No Kenyan minister has ever been convicted of corruption

NAIROBI (TrustLaw) – Kenya’s Anti-Corruption Commission has said it is investigating a fourth member of the cabinet for misuse of government funds, on top of three ministers it began looking into in 2010.

Commission director Patrick Lumumba told a news conference on Tuesday that the complaints he had received against the assistant minister were “very weighty” and involve the misappropriation of Constituency Development Fund money.

Lumumba also said he would send an additional five to 10 “high voltage” files to the attorney general’s office in the next few weeks, but gave no further details. The attorney general, the government’s top lawyer, decides whether to prosecute cases recommended to it by the commission.

The war on graft has gained momentum in Kenya since former lawyer Lumumba was appointed to head the KACC in July.

Earlier this month, Industrialisation Minister Henry Kosgey was charged in court for abuse of office involving imports of untaxed vehicles. In October, Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula and Higher Education Minister William Ruto were ousted from their posts over allegations of corruption.

KACC says graft costs east Africa's largest economy an estimated 30-40 percent of gross domestic product.

No Kenyan minister has ever been convicted of corruption. The zeal with which Lumumba is pursuing cases against them is causing concern among the political class.

Lumumba said he was not worried by parliamentarians’ complaints that he is politicising the fight against corruption.

“When you are in the kitchen you receive heat and we are prepared to withstand the heat,” he said.

“We… have a moral obligation to fight corruption which undermines democracy and the rule of law… We intend to discharge our mandate without fear, favour or ill will.”

 

 

 

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