The current Kenyan government was elected in response to election promises that it would put a stop to the runaway corruption, shameless nepotism and dire lack of efficiency of the Arap Moi administration. Documents released last week gave credence to the rumours that the new Kenyan government’s cupboard is even dingier than its predecessor’s.
You only have to be lightly cynical to draw parallels between the dishonoured pledges made in Kenya and similar ones that regularly gurgle out of our own government. As recently as a few weeks ago, as the central proposition of its municipal elections manifesto, President Thabo Mbeki announced yet again that his government was dedicating itself to the urgent task of cleaning up its act.
These sunny promises went down well in expected quarters. SABC news bulletins fair ejaculated with excitement. But scarcely had Mbeki’s fanfare sounded, no sooner had the party faithful stopped slapping each other on the back, than the swindling continued apace. The newspapers were back to being abrim with revelations of even more novel ways in which the public coffers were being pillaged, how even more infantile chicanery has been added to an already formidable repertoire of deceit. Last week this newspaper revealed that the still unresolved Travelgate scandal has not inhibited, but seems actually to have encouraged, some parliamentarians to continue their methodical looting of travel privileges. Another R9-million has been trousered.
Mbeki’s promise about putting an end to corruption was heartening. But oddly, it seems the presidency, in effect, holds itself immune from the principled covenant of its master. The deputy president went on her now-notorious holiday-cum-shopping trip to the United Arab Emirates at a cost to the taxpayer of some R700 000. What was surprising was the level of outrage at this expenditure. In reality, by presidential standards, R700 000 is small beer. The presidential Boeing runs at twice the cost of the comparatively low-grade air-taxi used by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and her fellow crane-inspectors. Mbeki uses his aircraft for similar trips between 20 and 30 times a year. That’s at a cost of somewhere between R20- and R30-million.
This is clearly what presidential spokesperson, Murphy Morobe, had in mind when he quite outdid his customary lofty dismissals of public protest. He was only being forthright when he crowned his excuses about the deputy president’s trip with some withering indifference to public concern. The R700 000 was just “a drop in the ocean” of what needed to be spent on the relief of poverty.
In a less politically narcissistic presidency, so utterly insensitive a remark by its official mouthpiece would haunt the nights. It has not, nor did the public outrage at the shopping trip do anything towards persuading the deputy president to trim her sails. Within a week she was strapping herself into another luxury jet, this time to be flown to Sun City to open a golf tournament. Another R75 000, for a 13-minute flight — that’s nearly six thousand a minute. Clearly the spending of exorbitant amounts on luxury transport is deemed acceptable for top members of ANC. A whole new meaning has been brought to Travelgate?
It’s generally acknowledged that municipalities are the very pebble-beds of graft. Venal mayoral fiefdoms are where political leaders often serve their apprenticeships. In these lights, it’s not perhaps nearly as surprising as Tony Leon makes out, that the ANC finds nothing amiss with proposing two convicted criminals for top positions in its municipal organisations. Both Ruth Ntshungulana-Bhengu and Pamela Nana Mnandi were found guilty and fined for defrauding Parliament of travel funds.
These two are now being proffered to the public as their representatives, by a party which only the day before yesterday was screeching about its intentions to rid itself of fraud and mendacity. Atlas Thabo merely shrugged. But a remark worthy of the most bizarre Kafka nightmare came from an ANC heavy in KwaZulu-Natal. According to Mtholephi Mthumkhulu, Ruth Ntshungulana-Bhengu has every right to be on the candidates’ list as she had “suffered enough”. Just like Tony Yengeni has.
And what of the grotesque new twistings in the ongoing epic of Sandi Majali, he whose company, Imvume Management, diverted R11-million of public money into the electoral funds of the ANC? Previously Majali had stumped up R65 000 for renovations to Social Welfare Minister Zola Skweyiya’s house. He also offered a job in one of his companies to Mrs Skwewiya. Last week more fangs were unsheathed in the newly renovated viper’s parlour. A company associated with Mr Majali has instituted a damages action against Skweyiya for R150-milion. It seems government finance chiefs had cancelled a R500-million contract, apparently awarded to IT Lynx Consortium by Mr Skewyiya who presumably then closed up office for the day and wearily made his way home to the very house Mr Majali had so kindly touched up for him.
Today, television will be featuring yet another stunning fashion parade and Tour de Nokia. It’s called the opening of Parliament and its main feature attraction will be the State of the Nation address by Mbeki. One can only hope that he has the decency not to harp on again about his intentions to put a stop to corruption. That won’t go down at all well with honoured guest Jacob Zuma.