President Kenyatta’s Failures Give Moi Reason to Talk

Reason Moi Has to Talk

Former Kenyan Dictator Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi does not, in my view, have pass to talk about corruption in Kenya. I mean it is Moi; this is the same man who sank Kenya for 24 years. I think we may give leave for many people to comment on and even abuse Kenyans about corruption but not Moi. He is the father of corruption in this country. Part of the problem that is Kenya is because of this man Moi. How dare he talk about corruption? I think it is dis-respective, he should apologize. But hold on a minute; failures by President Uhuru Kenyatta give Moi reason to talk. Can we then say that perhaps the corruption witnessed in Kenya under Uhuru is worse than that presided over by Moi himself. Imagine a situation where people steal until thieves get concerned that the stealing is too much. That is how deep Kenya has sunk as a country. According to recent survey by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Kenya is the 3^rd most corrupt country in the world after France and South Africa. This could have given Moi reason to speak out about corruption in Kenya despite him being the high priest of corruption.

Moi the Corrupt

Kenya and Kenyans should not forget the extent of corruption perpetrated by the family of the former Kenyan leader Daniel Arap Moi. The corrupt deals of Moi were exposed in a report in 2007 that laid bare a web of shell companies, secret trusts and front-men that his entourage used to funnel hundreds of millions of pounds into nearly 30 countries including Britain. The 110-page report by the international risk consultancy Kroll, alleges that relatives and associates of Mr Moi siphoned off more than £1bn (Ksh 144 billion) of government money. It puts the Moi’s on a par with Africa's other great kleptocrats, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) and Nigeria's Sani Abacha.

The assets accumulated included multimillion pound properties in London, New York and South Africa, as well as a 10,000-hectare ranch in Australia and bank accounts containing hundreds of millions of pounds. The report, commissioned by the Kenyan government, was submitted in 2004, but never acted upon. It details how: Mr Moi’s sons - Philip and Gideon - were reported to be worth £384m (Ksh 55 Billion) and £550m (Ksh 79 billion) respectively; His associates colluded with Italian drug barons and printed counterfeit money; His clique owned a bank in Belgium; The threat of losing their wealth prompted threats of violence between Mr Moi's family and his political aides; £4m was used to buy a home in Surrey and £2m to buy a flat in Knightsbridge. The Kroll investigation into the former regime was commissioned by President Mwai Kibaki shortly after he came to power on an anti-corruption platform in 2003. It was meant to be the first step towards recovering some of the money stolen during Mr Moi's 24-year rule, which earned Kenya the reputation as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

The Corrupt Cannot Fight Corruption

Nothing happened about these revelations because soon after the investigation was launched, Mr Kibaki's government was caught up in its own scandal, known as Anglo Leasing, which involved awarding huge government contracts to bogus companies. Kibaki’s regime was to be hit by numerous other scandals perpetrated by the inner core of his administration consisting of Mt. Kenya power brokers who came to be known as “Mt. Kenya Mafia.” Kibaki attempted to try to indicate that he was trying to do something about corruption but it was just about that; mere trying to indicate that he was trying to do something about corruption. He did nothing.  Since then, none of Mr Moi's relatives or close allies has been prosecuted. It was hoped that the government after Kibaki would do something about this menace but then it has come to pass that Uhuru’s administration has presided over the level of corruption that even worries Moi himself.