By Lillian Aluanga

"Stepping aside". That is the latest catch phrase used by ministers and Government officials implicated in corruption while exiting office.

Often the phrase is accompanied by a list of those to blame for the official’s woes, ranging from political detractors, saboteurs and even the media.

In eight years after Kanu left power, at least six ministers have "stepped aside" to allow for investigations into matters of public concern, such as the Goldenberg and Anglo Leasing scandals.

The controversial sale of the Grand Regency (now Laico) Hotel and Government properties in foreign missions, have also claimed some ministers’ jobs.

Currently, Industrialisation Minister Henry Kosgey and his Water counterpart Charity Ngilu are battling calls to step aside.

Those baying for Kosgey’s blood want the minister to quit over his alleged role in the importation of old cars, in contravention of a rule that forbids importation of vehicles more than eight years old. Ngilu is fighting corruption allegations in her ministry.

But while the cases may differ, there is a similarity. None of the officials is on record accepting responsibility of improprieties committed under their watch.

In 2008, then Finance Minister Amos Kimunya became the first minister under the Grand Coalition Government to be forced out of office to allow investigations over the Grand Regency Hotel saga.

Prior to his departure, a defiant Kimunya maintained his innocence, saying he would rather die than quit office, only to throw in the towel hours later on account of "consultation with the President, his family and colleagues."

Last month, Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetang’ula too was forced to step aside over alleged irregular buying and selling of Government properties in several foreign missions.

ADMIT LIABILITY

But he too knew just whom to blame. Vowing to bounce back, Wetang’ula rubbished a report by the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations, claiming it was "laced with malice, rumuor, innuendo and conjecture".

He then turned his guns on the media, whom he accused of supporting his detractors.

"The political culture of this country has perpetuated impunity and failure by our leaders to take responsibility for their actions," says Centre For Multi-party Democracy Chairman Larry Gumbe.

He cites the example of former Housing Minister Paul Ngei who was suspended from Government in 1965, after he was implicated in a maize scandal. Although a commission of inquiry was formed to investigate the matter, Ngei’s warming up to President Jomo Kenyatta, eventually saw him return to Cabinet. When he was removed from the Internal Security Ministry to the Transport docket in a 2005 Cabinet reshuffle that came hot on the heels of the Anglo Leasing scandal, former Internal Security Minister Chris Murungaru claimed he was "hounded out of office by the media."

No accountability

Then there was the 2009 fiasco at the Finance Ministry where a "typing error" resulted in a Sh9 billion discrepancy in the Budget figures.

Although he survived the din to have him step aside, Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta weighed in on his "political enemies who lacked a development agenda," for the mix-up.

At the Education Ministry, calls for minister Sam Ongeri and his then PS Karega Mutahi, to resign over misuse of funds were met by claims of innocence and pointing of fingers at junior officers.

"We have no shared vision of what accountability means," says International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) Executive Director George Kegoro.

While attributing this to the level of politics on the continent, Mr Kegoro says the electorate has the power to change the situation by demanding leaders be held accountable for their actions.

Former nominated MP and member of the Narc co-ordinating committee Julia Ojiambo says the new Constitution would unleash a series of shockers to masters of impunity.

"Issues like nepotism have now been confronted in the new law. Values like integrity in leadership were never internalised but this is no longer an option," says Prof Ojiambo.

Centre For Governance and Development Executive Director Kennedy Masime says: "The resignations are only made after consultations with the appointing authority. If one is viewed as a liability, then they have to go."

He draws parallels to other jurisdictions in the US, Singapore and Europe where censure by Congress or parliamentary bodies could end one’s political career.

Elsewhere, matters of integrity are taken very seriously and sometimes with disastrous results. In Japan, a scandal-tainted Agriculture minister committed suicide in 2007, hours before he was to be grilled by a parliamentary committee.

In the same year, a former minister of State for Presidential Affairs in Liberia, whose pictures of sexual escapades appeared in the press, resigned after issuing a public apology to his family and State.