Foreign donors stepped up pressure on Kenya to battle rampant corruption on Thursday as the European Union warned its aid may be jeopardised by the government’s inability or unwillingness fight graft.
The bloc, Kenya’s largest collective donor, issued the warning amid a new outcry over sleaze that has already seen the suspension of millions of dollars in United States funding and the resignation of the nation’s top anti-corruption advisor.
In a statement, EU embassies and the European Commission delegation in Nairobi slammed President Mwai Kibaki’s administration for a ”lack of good governance within the government of Kenya” and said decisions on assistance would depend on its willingness to address those concerns.
”Important decisions are pending for EU member states and the commission in relation to their own [tax-payers’-financed] bilateral programmes, and to Kenya’s relations with the EU as a collective body and with multilateral institutions of which EU member states are also a member,” it said.
”These decisions will largely depend on the government of Kenya’s seriousness and sense of urgency in addressing these issues,” it said.
Meanwhile, Japan, another leading donor, warned of growing donor unease on Wednesday even as it announced a grant of $9,8-million in economic aid to Kenya.
”The war on graft can be only be won if the government takes thorough measures and conclusive actions to tackle existing [graft] cases strictly and rapidly,” said Japanese ambassador to Kenya Satoru Miyamura.
The warnings followed Monday’s resignation of John Githongo, Kibaki’s chief advisor on graft, who quit after accusing the president of being unwilling to crack down on rampant corruption.
Githongo’s exit ”further emphasised the loss of credibility of the government in its political will to fight corruption,” the embassies said in the statement.
On Tuesday, the US ambassador to Kenya, William Bellamy, announced that Washington was suspending about $2,5-million in anti-graft aid for 2005 and 2006 ”until we can gain a clearer picture of the government’s true intention” on fighting corruption.
Last week, British High Commissioner to Kenya, Edward Clay, slammed Kibaki’s government for failing to stop ”massive looting” of public funds.
Kibaki’s shaky coalition of opposition parties swept to power on an anti-graft ticket in December 2002, defeating Kenya African National Union (Kanu) party, whose 39 years in power were marked by massive corruption that nearly stalled the economy, owing to the freezing of foreign cash support.
Despite Kibaki’s pledges to clamp down on graft, donors estimate graft may have cost Kenya up to a billion dollars since 2002, nearly a fifth of the country’s 2004/05 official state budget of about $5,5-billion.
On Wednesday, Kenyan Justice Minister Kiraitu Murungi defended Nairobi’s record on graft, said the government would continue the fight and raised eyebrows by using a reference to sexual violence to describe the donor threats.
”If they have decided that because Githongo has resigned they are not going to help us, we are going to use the few resources we have because we are willing to fight corruption,” he told reporters.
”They are raping a woman who is willing,” Murungi said, insisting that government was eager to fight graft and that ”the real war against corruption has just begun. It will be bloody”.
Charges of sleaze and indignant denials from government officials have been a mainstay of coverage and commentary in the Kenyan media for weeks and the EU embassies said they shared the apparent fears of the populace.
”[We] share the deep concern evidently felt by the Kenyan people about the lack of good governance within the government of Kenya and the damage it causes to the nation’s welfare and the effective operation of its institutions,” the statement said. – Sapa-AFP