Ringera finally ‘to give up job’

By Standard Team

The wall of confidence Justice Aaron Ringera built around himself as his tenure and contract extension were attacked could crumble Wednesday afternoon.

Confidential sources within Office of the President last evening told The Standard Parliament’s resistance to his return and its threat to disband Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission had sealed his fate.

"Between you and me, it is a matter of hours before Ringera calls it a day. There are no options," said the source privy to the goings on around Ringera. He could not, however, be quoted because of the sensitivity with which the President and his aides were handling the Ringera issue.

KACC boss Aaron Ringera

The KACC director’s contract was unilaterally renewed by President Kibaki, triggering off a wave of criticism and support in equal measure. When he meets his staff this afternoon, the eyes of the nation will be on the man who said he would not budge and banked on President Kibaki’s reappointment letter as his saviour. He is expected to make what is believed will be his farewell address to KACC staff.

Sources at Integrity Centre revealed the former Court of Appeal Judge, who last week met the Chief Justice fanning perception he could be headed back to his old chambers, started clearing his personal effects from his office on Sunday.

It was not clear if he met the President yesterday as was expected. If any meeting took place, it was not at Harambee House, as Ringera was not seen there yesterday during the period when the Head of State was in his town office.

Barring the unexpected, the die appeared cast for Ringera, whose name among politicians, civil society groups and religious organisations has been synonymous with Kenya’s luckless war against graft for the last decade.

Attention has shifted to the so-called ‘hot’ or secret files locked away in his vault at Integrity Centre.

Mega Scandals

They include such secret documents as witness statements, detective reports and even tapes on the Sh7.2 billion Anglo Leasing twin scandals — the worst to rock Kibaki’s administration and over which Cabinet members were implicated and forced to resign.

There are also the cache of evidence and paper-trail pieced together by his investigators on such mega-scandals such as Goldenberg, Triton Affair and the Grand Regency Hotel saga — which KACC was, ironically, part of.

Several MPs have argued in Parliament that Ringera was Kibaki’s best bet for the job because he could be trusted to ‘manage’ the files — which implicate powerful and influential personalities from the past and the current regime.

There are, as is expected of an anti-graft office, dossiers on the kingpins of corruption including maize smugglers, drug-lords, suspected money-launderers, tax dodgers and possibly even gun-runners, whose common denominator is vantage public office of good political connections. The whole spectre of how KACC handled Mr John Githongo’s affair, which sprung from right inside State House, and included recording of conversations with some of the President’s associates, would also naturally be buried in this vault.

These are the kind of information that in the West could fell governments and force elections if authenticated to be true. It is also the kind of information whose leakage would worry the wheeler-dealers and influence Kenyans know so much for flouncing their wealth than how they made it in the first place.

It is in these secret bundles lie the faces and suspected acts of criminality in the eight ministers — five from the former regime and three in the present coalition government —three MPs, eight former Permanent Secretaries, 58 parastatal heads and 89 senior officers in government against whom KACC has recommended prosecution.

Buried in Ringera’s vaults, which sources revealed access was severely limited the clearing process to hold even one of them was so rigorous and foolproof, are the files that any President would have to include ‘absolute trust’ as a key ingredient for the next occupant of the office. For, buried in Ringera’s office is the yet to be concluded cases of big-time corruption, involving the ‘big fishes’.

As the curtain appeared to roll down on Ringera’s tumultuous tenure at Integrity Centre, the civil society, the Law Society of Kenya, Parliament and diplomatic missions, intensified pressure for his exit.

Ringera on the other hand is reported to have suavely fixed a price on his exit, in the form of monetary compensation as envisaged in his first Sh2.5 million a month contract from 2003.

Advertise Jobs

"In the event that he fails to do so (quit), we shall proceed to mobilise resources to place an advertisement for the positions," said Law Society of Kenya Vice Chairman James Mwamu.

Defence Assistant minister David Musila and Gichugu MP Martha Karua slammed Attorney General Amos for dismissing a decision taken by parliament to reject the reappointment of Ringera.

Karua who is the immediate former Justice minister said Wako’s dismissal of Parliament’s resolution as mere opinion was not only a display of impunity but dishonest interpretation of the law.

"Parliament in the Constitution is a watchdog institution and its resolutions are binding on Government in a functional democracy that has accountability means," Karua said.

"By the end of the day, Wako may also have some questions to answer on the failure of Ringera so if I were him I would keep quiet," Musila added. Several notable civil societies also maintained that Ringera’s re-appointment was illegal as

Kisumu Town West MP John Olago-Aluoch reportedly worked on and amendment to Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act that if adopted would transfer KACC mandate to Commissioner of Police.