News

Story by GLADWELL OTIENO

Abuse thrives where systemic and ethical controls are weak. Anglo Leasing is merely the latest in a series of abuses made possible by loopholes in the system. We are sure to hear of more, given that this is an election year.

Like Goldenberg before it, which took advantage of foreign exchange controls in order to outwit multilateral donors the abuse of IoUs, irrevocable promissory notes (IPNs) was a loophole that presented itself to the devious minds that seem to populate our public institutions. The use of IPNs on security contracts rose from Sh 11.3 billion in 2001 to Sh17.5 billion in 2003. The ratio of Anglo Leasing-type security contracts debt to total external debt repayments increased from 2.9 per cent in 2001/2 to 51.8 per cent in 2004/5, only dropping to 35.9 per cent in 2005/6.

That the NARC Government eagerly seized on criminal tricks and drove them to new heights is an illustration that the political elite are more united by their desire to abuse power to amass wealth than they are divided by any “vision”. This is why it is necessary to create an environment that makes it difficult for corruption to thrive by facilitating access to information and a culture of transparency.

Legal reforms are essential, and there have been several. But we seem to excel at passing new laws which then go unenforced. The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act 2003 and the Public Officer Ethics Act are examples.

The need for Parliament to take a greater role in the budgeting process to stem abuse by the Executive has been stressed repeatedly. The Controller and Auditor General made recommendations in his audit of the Anglo Leasing contracts for the involvement of Parliament in all phases of the security related budget.

Again, the pace of implementation of these and other recommendations including those of the Public Accounts Committee is unsatisfactory. But the Fiscal Management Bill before Parliament contains measures which will radically strengthen parliamentary oversight and scrutiny executive accountability if it goes through.

Recently, the Finance minister came out waving what he purported were cancelled promissory notes. Not long after that, copies of still valid promissory notes which had been tabled in Parliament by an opposition MP were being passed from hand to hand in Jeevanjee Gardens by concerned citizens.

The events of the past weeks show that the greatest guarantee of government accountability is an alert, critical and vocal public. This is the ultimate defence against the propensity to abuse public office for private gain.