PM confronts Ongeri, tells him to quit

By Martin Mutua and James Ratemo

Prime Minister Raila Odinga piled pressure on the Minister for Education Sam Ongeri and told him to his face that he needs to step aside.

The dramatic attack on the minister may not have caught Prof Ongeri unawares, but left him tense and uncomfortable as the audience cheered Raila.

This happened even as civil society groups issued an ultimatum for Ongeri and his Permanent Secretary Karega Mutahi to step aside to facilitate investigation into the misappropriation of hundreds of millions of shillings from the Free Primary Education kitty.

And Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta revealed that Kenya would now reimburse development partners all the stolen funds as it pursues the thieves to recover the money.

Raila was categorical that corruption must be faced head on.

"And professor is my personal friend ,but this I will do even to my own brother and even my own wife. This in my view is the best way to create proper culture of anti-corruption in our country," he said amid cheers.

The PM made the off-the-cuff remarks when he officiated at the launch of Equity Group Foundation and MasterCard Foundation sponsorship programme for disadvantaged bright children at the bank’s headquarters in Nairobi’s Upperhill.

Speaking earlier before inviting Raila, Uhuru, in what appeared like a veiled criticism of the Prime Minister and a defence of Ongeri, said the fight against corruption could not be won through war of words.

Uhuru said this after detailing the measures his ministry and Ongeri’s had done since the loss of more than Sh100 million was unearthed.

"The fight on corruption cannot be won by war of words, but by clear consistent, coherent and constant strategy aimed at institutionalising our capacity to fight corruption and good will of all," he said.

Reimburse donors

Uhuru acknowledged the magnitude of the problem at the Ministry of Education by saying donors shall be reimbursed all the monies stolen as the Government pursues the ‘thieves’ to recover the Sh232 million missing.

Uhuru reiterated that Sh131 million had been stolen but by the end of the audit, Sh101 million extra was discovered missing.

He said 15 members of staff have been suspended and Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission has taken over the matter as the ministries of Finance and Education evaluate the documented evidence.

He said "the Government has suspended all the implicated officers" and has sent a validation report to donors promising to reimburse the development partners all the lost funds as it pursues the thieves to recover the lost money.

This is before he invited Raila, the chief guest at the launch of a scholarship fund that saw Mastercard give an initial cheque of Sh356 million to the sponsorship programmes with Equity Group Foundation matching the funds with a similar amount.

But talking to journalists after the meeting, a visibly angry Ongeri accused Raila of doublespeak. "If he is serious about what he is saying then he should have been the first to step aside when the maize scandal broke out."

Raila had decried that corruption had caused Kenya to be ranked in the league of "giants in the world as far as corruption is concerned."

"This is the league that we do not want to play in. That is why we must face this animal called corruption head-on," he said amid applause from the audience.

Allow investigation

The PM said sometimes the talk about corruption could be due to perception and one might not be involved. "At times there are wild allegations, which can be made about corruption, but we must give them the benefit of doubt and allow investigation to be carried out," he added.

Raila then went on to give a story of how a minister in the Indian government resigned following a train accident. "There have been serious allegations of this Free Primary fund and the Ministry of Education is in the dock… so I told my good friend Prof Ongeri and his PS to step aside to allow for investigation. That does not mean that they are guilty," he added.

Raila noted that in an institution when such a situation arises everybody is suspect and when all have stepped aside then the process of elimination begins.

"Investigations start by suspending everybody then you start the process of elimination," he explained.

He said those who are cleared would then have to be reinstated to their positions.

After the scathing attack, Ongeri stood to shake Raila’s hand amid applause from the audience, who thought the remarks were rather too harsh yet Ongeri maintained his cool and afforded a broad smile.

In his speech, Ongeri steered clear of the scandal, but intimated that incorrect information was causing confusion in the country.

He said Treasury has already sent free primary and secondary tuition funds to schools hence education should not be hampered.

"Treasury has already disbursed Sh6.8 billion for this year," he said.

Last Friday Raila used a function for permanent secretaries and parastatal chiefs on corruption presided by President Kibaki to state that he had recommended to the Head of State to relieve both Ongeri and Mutahi of their duties to allow for investigation of the FPE funds.

The PM reiterated the same call at a burial in Funyula on Sunday.

The move continues to place President Kibaki on the spot on how he intends to handle the matter.

Although Raila is a co-principal in the coalition government with President Kibaki, the Head of State is the appointing authority responsible for Cabinet ministers from his PNU coalition.

 

Read all about: Minister for Education Sam Ongeri Karega Mutahi Free Primary Education

 

 

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