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"speaker_name": "Mr. Kipchumba",
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"legal_name": "Joseph Kipchumba Lagat",
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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, I was just quoting what is on the tapes. They are available to hon. Members. There have been cases where hon. Members have argued that we should also mention other projects in the past. We were only dealing with Anglo-Leasing. Anglo-Leasing related to the passport issuing equipment. We will have an opportunity, as the Public Accounts Committee, to 392 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 5, 2006 look at the other 18 projects once this House approves that. Therefore, there should be no issue as to why we looked at projects during the KANU or NARC era. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to look at Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC). This Committee wanted to find out whether KACC was doing a good job. We have reproduced what, in our own opinion, thought KACC failed to do. In the initial stages, the KACC was very eager to investigate the case and it brought in names of civil servants and politicians. Ministers' names were included because the Constitution states very clearly that they are in charge and are supposed to direct and control their Ministries, under the supervision of Permanent Secretaries. That brings us to the reason why Members rejected the Report initially. When you are in charge of a Ministry, you must be clearly in charge. That is why we have included the names of politicians in this Report. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the role of the Vice-President and Minister for Home Affairs was very clear. He approved, via a memo, that the project should go ahead. Of course, he gave certain conditions which had to be fulfilled before the project could go ahead. Nonetheless, he went ahead and said that the interest rate should be reduced. Indeed, if you look at the initial contract, the interest rate was 5 per cent and it was subsequently reduced to 4 per cent. That means that the Vice- President and Minister for Home Affairs was well aware of the project and he gave his approval. But when he appeared before our Committee, he said that he was not aware of the project. The Committee went out of its way to prove that indeed, he was aware of the entire project and that is why we have quoted this. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have said that hon. Mwiraria was an executive Minister. We have given reasons why we thought the former Minister for Finance should be held responsible. While we appreciate in this Report that hon. Mwiraria has since resigned, this Committee still recommended that he should be investigated further with a view to taking appropriate action. To this Committee, resigning is not sufficient. If, indeed, it is established beyond reasonable doubt that he was involved, we recommend that other Government agencies take appropriate action. Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me now move to the role played by the Central Bank of Kenya. The Central Bank of Kenya pays money mechanically when directed and ordered by the respective Ministries. In this case, it mechanically paid the money as required by law. But we are saying as a Committee, that in these dealings, the Central Bank was aware of its exclusion in the negotiation process. The Central Bank of Kenya Act, Cap. 31 says that the Central Bank must be involved in the negotiations. To the extent that it was excluded but nonetheless went ahead and paid the money, it means the bank did not play its rightful role. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to talk about prosecution. Initially, this case was being handled by Mr. Philip Murgor, who was by then the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). If you look at our Report, it says very clearly that while Mr. Murgor was handling the case, there was a Special Magistrate's Court headed by Ms. Maureen Mboya. When the case had just began, the Special Magistrate's Court was dissolved. What did that mean? It, therefore, meant that the case could not proceed. Subsequently, Mr. Murgor was removed as the DPP and replaced by Mr. Keriako Tobiko. According to evidence given to us, Mr. Keriako Tobiko was a defence counsel for some of the people who were involved in these cases. Therefore, the Committee noted with concern that there was frustration by the degazettement of the Special Magistrate's Court and the appointment of the new DPP who was a defence counsel. This meant that the cases could not move expeditiously. It also meant that there was conflict of interest. Mr. Speaker, Sir, from the foregoing, the Committee did not foresee any possibility of fair prosecution and possible effort to pursue the matter expeditiously. The Committee was concerned that there was no political will to prosecute the cases. But that was a mere observation. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the civil servants, as much as we would want to criticise politicians, are the biggest culprits in this Anglo Leasing Affair. This Committee did establish that there was a web April 5, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 393 of civil servants in the Office of the President, Ministry of Finance, Department of Public Debt Management who were so experienced in these matters that whenever there is a new Minister, they would always suck him in so that he becomes part of the system. We would want to thank Mr. Githongo for being bold enough and breaking away from this web, despite being a public servant. Mr. Githongo sacrificed his salary and allowances as a Permanent Secretary and decided that once and for all, the truth must be told. In fact, at one stage, he told us in London not to imagine that he was enjoying himself in London. He said that while in Government, he was earning about Kshs600,000 per month and now, he has to moonlight; hope from one institution to another to get money to sustain himself. Therefore, Members here should not imagine that he is enjoying. But he has done a commendable job."
}