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"speaker_name": "Mr. Raila",
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"content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, of course, the professor is still new in the Cabinet but what I have read out here is a seven year memorandum resolution. This is what the Cabinet was invited to approve, and that is what the Cabinet approved. I do not know where he got the other information from. April 6, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 443 Having said that, I would like to invite the House to look at page 12 of the Report. Paragraph two, the fifth line from the bottom, says:- \"On the same day, Mr. Githongo said he was visited by hon. Murungi, MP, in his office, who expressed his concern about the investigations that were going on regarding Anglo Leasing. Hon. Murungi wondered whether Mr. Githongo appreciated the political costs of his investigations. Hon. Mwiraria, MP, also dropped in on Mr. Githongo and informed him that Mr. Jimmy Wanjigi, a businessman, who was concerned about the Anglo Leasing investigations, had sworn that he would kill Mr. Githongo.\" Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, on page 14, starting from the seventh sentence from the bottom, the Report further says:- \"At this meeting, he (Mr. Murungi) informed Mr. Githongo that Mr. Alfred Getonga was concerned about his involvement in the Anglo Leasing investigations even after the monies had been repaid. Mr. Murungi also said that he had now realised that Anglo Leasing is us.\" Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the question is: Did Mr. Githongo brief His Excellency the President about this development? That is the question that needs to be established. If he did brief His Excellency the President about this development, what action did the President take? If what has been said on page 42 of this Report is relevant, then these are the questions that we need to ask. Otherwise, we will not have any other issue with His Excellency the President. I agree that we need to look forward. This House needs to take the leadership and lay foundations for eliminating grand corruption bedeviling this country. It is not true that there was no corruption in the 1960s. Corruption in this country started in those years. The other day, I gave an example of a City engineer who committed suicide because he was found to have been involved in corrupt activities. So, corruption among the political class of this country started in the 1960s when the issue of \"5 per cent\" kickback became apparent. This was subsequently increased to 10 per cent. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am reminded of a conversation I had with an American businessman who had come to invest in this country in the early 1970s. He went to the then Minister for Trade, Commerce and Industry to acquire the relevant licences. Those were the days when it was mandatory for one to get a trade licence, as well as an import and export licence. After the American businessman elaborated on his proposal to set up an industry in this country, the Minister told him: \"I will do everything you want if you give me 10 per cent of the total cost of your project.\" When I met that American investor in the evening, he looked very frustrated. He told me: \"Mr. Raila, things happen in this country that would make Mr. Spiro Agnew look like a schoolboy.\" Spiro Agnew had been a Vice-President of former American President Nixon. He was the first American holder of public office to have resigned because he had been found to have been involved in tax evasion back in his State. Mr. Deputy Speakers, Sir, this American was mesmerised that the Minister had actually demanded 10 per cent of the total cost of the project before issuing him with the necessary licences. So, it is not true that corruption in this country started just the other day. So, the seeds for grand corruption in this country were sown at that time. It is the Ndegwa Commission which institutionalised corruption in the Civil Service. It all started when civil servants were allowed to engage in business, sometimes without regard to conflict of interest. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have seen people who joined the Civil Service as Under Secretaries rise through the ranks to become Permanent Secretaries, and Heads of Civil Service and Secretaries to the Cabinet, and subsequently leave Government service as multi-millionaires. Some 444 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 6, 2006 of them are now in this House, shouting at the top of their voices that they are against corruption, yet all the wealth that they own was corruptly acquired at the expense of the taxpayer."
}