THE NAIROBI LAW MONTHLY
Date: 23.01.2016
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Jubilee is the personification
of what bad governance means
More and more, John Githongo s words
have rang true about Jubilee in the past
year. Instead of a government, we may
have a 'scandal' on our hands
TNLM WRITER
Government's closet is full
of skeletons, which include
failed promises, mismatched
priorities, utter arrogance and
lack of strategy. But the ugliest of them all
is corruption.
Government is yet to fulfil any of its an­
chor promises contained in the manifesto
on whose premise President Uhuru Keny­
imagine where we would be
as an economy if they had a
second term in power.
One may argue that the
Standard Gauge Railway
is on track. The same is,
however, fraught with cor­
ruption right from incep­
tion, leading to the com­
missioning of diesel­run
atta and his Deputy William Ruto strode
locomotives when the
to power. Unlike President Kibaki who,
world ­ again, consider
Ethiopia ­ has since moved to electric lo­
within the first week of his swearing in,
declared primary education free, Uhuru's
pet project, the laptops for class one pu­
pils, are yet to get to the classrooms, three
years on. The first lot that would have
benefited from this project is now in class
three. Should Jubilee, for argument's sake,
deliver in the last year of its term, and
chances are that they will not, this lot will
have moved to upper primary.
Electricity, which Jubilee promised to
take to every home, is not only still a pipe­
dream for the majority of Kenyans; it is
also damn expensive, far beyond what it
costs in neighbouring economies includ­
comotives. With the current clamour for
a green global economy, it remains to be
seen for how viable the project will remain
relevant. The only road constructions go­
ing on are the left over's from the previous
regime. Suffice it to say that the speed to
the said projects has slowed, presumably
due to lack of funds. One example is the
Outer Ring Road connecting Thika Super
Highway to Jomo Kenyatta International
Airport which should have been complete
by now but which is just beginning. Its
completion could take several years.
Leader or whiner?
fight against corruption. Uhuru blew the
whistle even on corruption happening in
Office of the President. One got the feel­
ing that the President forgot that he was
President in certain circumstances. On
the other hand, Deputy President, as with
many other challenges afflicting the na­
tion including insecurity, gave lip service
to the war on corruption. As this hap
pened, the lords of impunity in govern­
ment looted public coffers dry.
In a clear indication that Jubilee Gov­
ernment's strategy, if there was any in
the first place, had neither head nor tail,
the Executive, in a clear breach of the law,
blackmailed the Ethics and Anti­Corrup­
ing Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia. No
The reason Jubilee has not delivered in
wonder our manufacturing industry is
losing investors, existing and potential,
to rival economies in the region.
Road infrastructure is the worst hit by
Jubilee government's lack of foresight to
put the economy on the right track. It is
disheartening. President Kibaki and the
Right Honourable Raila Odinga's coalition
tion Commission to hastily hand over a
the aforementioned, and in many other
sectors, is because of runaway corruption.
All of the Jubilees hyped projects were
tion. The list, as one of the commission­
grounded due to corrupt procurement
procedures. But 2015 has been Jubilee's
Waterloo in governance in general, and
take care of State House's blue­eyed boys
and girls. Eventually the President handed
government had prioritised road infra­
structure development, and one can only
the fight against corruption in particular.
For the better half of the year, the Presi­
dent came off as a whistleblower in the
list of public servants under investiga­
ers confessed afterwards, was cleansed to
the list to Parliament in a choreographed
procedure amid pomp and applause. He
managed to hoodwink not just the Op­
position Members of Parliament to give
Ipsos Kenya ­ Acorn House,97 James Gichuru Road ­ Lavington ­ Nairobi ­ Kenya
THE NAIROBI LAW MONTHLY
Date: 23.01.2016
Page 36
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ColumnCM: 185.11
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him a standing ovation in his renewed on­
slaught on corruption but also the mem­
bers of public. Consequently, in March,
five Cabinet Secretaries from his own
Cabinet, among other high­ranking man­
darins, were forced to step down. They
included Land's Charity Ngilu, Energy's
Davis Chirchir, Labour's Kazungu Kambi
and Agriculture's Felix Kosgei.
But that is as far as it got. Government
went back to slumber land. In the mean­
time, the Office of the Director of Public
Prosecutions preferred cheeky charges on
the suspects of corruption, including ob­
struction of justice in the case of Charity
Ngilu, in a scheme to clear them to resume
office. Quietly, however, it was business
as usual in government departments. Bil­
lions of taxpayers' money was being loot­
ed day and night.
Tip of the iceberg
The National Youth Service (NYS) scan­
dal that the Coalition for Restoration of
Democracy (Cord) leader lifted the lid on
to reveal the loss of Sh79l million shil­
lings was only a tip of the iceberg. In fact,
thorough investigations (which will not
take place anyway) will reveal massive
loot, far beyond the Sh79i million that is
being touted. Then there is the Eurobond
scandal in which government cannot pre­
sent evidence showing how Shi40 billion
of the Sh250 billion Eurobond was spent.
Same government has since shifted gear.
Reasons for which they floated the Eu­
robond are no longer being given as ones
on which the money was spent. CS Fi­
nance Henry Rotich can take to the dogs
his explanation that Shl40 billion was
eased 2014­2015 fiscal year budget and
distributed to various ministries. He says
that without batting an eye when we know
most of the services for which these min­
istries exist have been devolved to county
governments. What is more, Rotich would
later change his mind and say Treasury
does not know how ministries spent the
money. What cheek!
But what should worry Kenyans even
more is the fact that much of the theft hap­
pening under Jubilee is going undetected.
The two or three scandals raising heat that
Cord has lifted the lid over are just what
we know. Remember, this government
has yet to investigate a scandal on its own
volition. If anything, they, like in the NYS
saga, have denied existence of any corrup­
tion until Opposition pushes it to a level
they cannot withstand anymore. Even
their skewed investigations, hell­bent on
cover up, have always vindicated Cord.
God help Kenya if this spills into 2016.
exhibiting in dealing with serious issues
that we are unable to make headway.
The over borrowing by this government
with nothing to show for it in terms of de­
velopment projects, the over 24 foreign
trips the President has made in the past
one year would be an overkill for me to re­
iterate here. So I will gloss over it, but the
Then there is the obscene idea of invok­
one thing I cannot and will not gloss over
ingfellow leaders' mothers in public spats
to threatening public official to bend ex­
isting laws in their favour. That has been
the modus operandi of majority of leading
lights of Jubilee Coalition. The utter arro­
gance and display of opulence when the
majority ofKenyans are limping under the
weight of heavy taxation, to keep equally
opulent government operation is what
will finally push the last nail in this gov­
ernment's coffin come 2017. Already signs
is the indecisiveness in the President's
are giving. That they lost to Opposition in
the Kajiado Central by election after they
gifted a Cord MP with a ministerial post is
a sign of things to come.
Government cannot keep barking and
engaging Opposition in a war of words ­
manner of leadership. It has borne this
country a great cost.
For over eight months, the President
did not know what to do with the five
Cabinet Secretaries he suspended over
corruption allegations. In the meantime,
they continued drawing salaries for which
they offered no service. Key ministries like
Energy, Land, Transport and Agriculture
were the entire without substantive cap­
tains. That does not speak well of a Presi­
dent, indeed a government that has a clear
roadmap to where it wants to steer the
country to. Even more annoying is the fact
that the President seemed to reawaken to
reality only when Devolution CS Anne
it is not how countries are run; instead,
Waiguru bolted from Cabinet following
they can address issues raised so that
sustained heat by Cord.
Opposition has nothing to make noise
Vested interest
about. For example, instead of dwelling
on sideshows, they can tell the public in
detail how Eurobond money was spent.
Rather than deny existence of corrup­
tion whenever a whistle is blown, they
should investigate and take action where
any evidence is found and rather than go
for the whistleblowers, they should treat
them with respect and act on their fears,
protect them from any possible harm by
the lords of impunity. This would go a long
way to embolden more people to lift the
lid on mega scandals quietly going on in
government departments. It is because of
the kind of cockiness that government is
• Government cannot
keep barking and
engaging Opposition
in a war of words ­ it
is not how countries
are run; instead, it
can work to address
It is not until then that Uhuru Kenyatta
swung to action and what seemed diffi­
cult to do previously was done in a day. All
the five CSs on suspension, for instance,
were suddenly fired and replaced within a
week. It should be remembered that Waig­
uru had been shielded even from interro­
gation as a suspect as her ministry rocked
with massive corruption. Should Waiguru
have stayed put, would the President of
the Republic of Kenya not have fought cor­
ruption in his government?
I may not entirely agree with John Gi­
thongo that there is no government in
Kenya but a scandal, but more often than
not his sentiment has rung true in the
past year; that much I will admit. It is my
prayer, for the love of my country, that
2016 will be different and thatjubilee Gov­
ernment will not need to be policed to de­
liver even on their own mandate and that
where need for policing will arise, they
will take it positively so together we may
take Kenya forward. ¦
the issues raised"
Ipsos Kenya ­ Acorn House,97 James Gichuru Road ­ Lavington ­ Nairobi ­ Kenya