Kibaki should crack the whip to save his legacy

By Billow Kerrow

The past few weeks have been particularly historic for the country as Kenyans watched fundamental reforms blossom in the transparent hiring of top public servants, and scrutiny of their integrity and performance. It is bound to change our work ethics and enhance public service delivery in the long term. But for many ordinary Kenyans, the ultimate payoff is whether these reforms will stamp out corruption, which has entrenched poverty.

Even as the Finance Minister midwifes his plump budget in the next few weeks, emerging new corruption scandals in Government will dampen his projected economic growth and discourage investments.

More significantly, the impact of the massive public spending to reduce poverty and enhance service delivery will not be felt if the money is looted. Invariably, the looting gets uncovered years later and Kenyans will remain the poorer.

The law gives the Finance minister not only the power to dole out the funds to the ministries but also requires him to watch over it. His ministry has audit officers in each ministry who validate all payments. They get the spending reports and have teams of internal auditors who examine the expenditure reports to ensure funds were used properly. In short, he can crack the whip far and wide, and dole out penalties laid out in the law in addition to seeking police action as he did.

But the buck stops with the President. His ministers and permanent secretaries should take political and managerial responsibility seriously and quit if funds have been stolen under their watch. If they do not, he should sack them. Period!

There are no two ways to it. If he defends them by keeping them, as he did in 2009 when Sam Ongeri was fired by the PM, he shares in the collective guilt of his Government.

By letting such leaders pontificate on their innocence, the President is not only denting his legacy but allowing entrenchment of impunity, and eroding leadership responsibility espoused in Chapter Six of our Constitution. God helps those who help themselves! Mr President, please forget political patronage and crack the whip. God will then answer your prayers, and Kenyans will be on your side. The PM is a toothless ‘bulldog’; Executive authority lies with you and Kenyans know it.

I am incensed by PSs or ministers who argue they were not in charge at the time. The Education Permanent Secretary, Karega Mutahi, was the epitome of impunity when he claimed in 2009 that the alleged scam was a fabrication.

The rot in that ministry flourished under his watch and that of George Saitoti. Both are still in Government and share in political culpability and should leave office. Education PS Kiyiapi’s statement that donor funding freeze would not affect his ministry is Karega’s old adage. The import of it is that it is taxpayer’s money we are eating in the grand larceny, not donors!

Both the President and the PM have a duty to check their supporters against defending leaders’ integrity on ethnic grounds or political party affiliation or minority rights. I am a pastoralist and do not accept that anyone should argue on our behalf that we should have a lower vetting threshold; this would imply that we are of a lesser moral intellect or integrity than others.

If we allow such mediocre profiling, we will kill the spirit of the budding reforms.

Meanwhile, Uhuru should worry about the shilling’s free fall. The ‘cost-push’ inflation effect will lead to higher cost of living that will translate into wages spiral. Our production costs will rise, the export competitiveness will diminish and investments will reduce. His budget deficit will worsen. Wake up man!

—The writer is a former MP for Mandera Central and political economist.