Where are Parliament’s whistleblowers?

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Parliament went into debate of Mau forest evictions and the reappointment of Justice Aaron Ringera to Kacc with talk of an unholy deal to thwart the people’s will.

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Agriculture minister William Ruto reportedly lobbied MPs into supporting a compromise that was to satisfy ethnic constituencies as well as political expediency. A scratch-my-back- and-I’ll-scratch-yours deal was expected to give the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission director a lifeline in exchange for the inclusion of prominent landowners in the Mau in a Government compensation deal. This was not what Kenyans wanted.

Public opinion — and that of this paper — has been in favour of compensating only legitimate smallholders, not politically connected individuals and firms that have already profited from their access to public land. On Ringera, we held the position the House should do what is best for the war on high-level corruption. Retaining the director in a direct trade-off that rewards the corrupt in the Mau, and comes with the expectation he will "go slow" on those from the Rift Valley Province facing corruption cases, was not in the best interests of the war.

The director cannot owe anyone such a debt of gratitude and be effective in his job. His indebtedness to the Executive and the President for his appointment is itself a problem Kenyans hope to solve by changing the process of recruitment and retention. Adding to the list of powerful people he owes emboldens impunity.

Political Expediency

Parliament’s mysterious about turn on the Mau Complex compe-nsation criteria on Tuesday suggested reports of a deal are true. It is inexplicable that members in the precincts of the House would disappear at the time of the vote on the Mau taskforce report, thus allowing inclusion of an amendment forcing Government to pay large landowners, without one.

Joint Government Chief Whip George Thuo yesterday told MPs and the public a meeting called the day before did not discuss the issues. This, however, in no way rules out lobbying outside official meetings. Thus, the country sat through debate on a Motion recommending annulling Justice Ringera’s appointment and that of two assistants, fearing a similarly compromised outcome.

This is unacceptable.

Having legislators vote on iss-ues as their consciences tell them to, not under fiscal or party influence, is an important asset in democracies. This Parliament, born in difficult times, began its sitti-ngs with MPs voting under duress from one party amid accusations a rival party had attempted to bribe members to vote a particular way. It has even been said on the floor of the House that the toilets at Parliament buildings do brisk business (exchange of cash) during crucial votes.

This is not a practice that can be ignored indefinitely without a serious deterioration of govern-ance. We have previously argued that the uglier side of horse-trading can be curbed by making use of wealth declaration laws. While these were the subject of one of Parliament’s most effective acts of legislative sabotage, they have attracted the attention of Ringera and others who believe amendments are needed to make these laws effective. More voices should join in and urge this House to undo the mischief the Ninth Parliament perpetrated, which sees an avalanche of hundreds of thousands of wealth declarations.

We are acutely aware, however, that this is a probem that cannot be addressed entirely through external enforcement. It depends on the goodwill of Parliamentary staff and MPs themselves. If the ‘clean’ MPs in the House are bold enough to table evidence of misdeeds by parastatal chiefs, ministers and others, why, pray tell, has none ever presented proof of these cash exchanges?

Illegal Lobbying

We can see why this would be a dangerous and difficult thing to do. But there are those who have proven an ability to stand for the truth in the face of vilification. An outing of a few bribed MPs would go a long way to reducing the influence of brokers or moneymen on the legislative process.

Let MPs speak out and break the cycle of illegal lobbying.