KENYAN President Daniel arap Moi has launched a scathing attack on donors to the east African country, accusing them of creating a culture of corruption.
The comments come a week before Moi meets World Bank President James Wolfenson and International Monetary Fund head Horst Koehler at a regional heads of state meeting in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam.
The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank resumed lending to Kenya last year after a halt in 1997 in protest at rampant corruption and economic mismanagement. But disbursement of the money has been suspended after the government failed to meet key loan conditions.
Many diplomats question the authorities’ commitment to fighting corruption after promised legislation to curb graft was not presented in parliament, and a High Court declared the Kenya Anti-Corruption Authority ”unconstitutional”.
But the veteran Moi, who has ruled Kenya for 22 years, said in off-the-cuff comments that foreigners were lining their pockets with money stolen from donor funds.
”The government has signed many documents with representatives of donors only for the money to disappear without trace,” the Daily Nation newspaper quoted Moi as saying.
The Kenyan shilling fell as the market reacted negatively to Moi’s comments.
Moi also attacked diplomats and said there was a conspiracy by foreigners to plunge the country into chaos.
”They say Moi is bad… tomorrow Moi will retire and go to a certain corner,” the president was quoted as saying. ”What about my people who have been subjected to numerous problems? I don’t want them to be troubled. They should be left in peace.”
Moi has often hit out at donors, accusing them in rambling speeches of anything from neocolonialism to attempting to destabilise his government.
Moi also accused foreign journalists of exaggerating reports of insecurity in Kenya, telling them they should instead report on instability in southern Sudan.
In a separate statement, Health Minister Amukowa Anangwe accused donors of trying to derail democracy in Kenya. ”They are plotting against elected governments…a deliberate effort to undermine democratic governance and bring down by default an elected government,” the Nation quoted Anangwe as saying. – Reuters