Fighting mighty Magendo - Government faces critical tests in its anti-corruption struggle
Big Boost As World Bank Pumps in Sh20 Billion
LDP, Kanu Plot to Clip Kibaki Powers
Big Boost As World Bank Pumps in Sh20 Billion
The East African Standard (Nairobi)
June 19, 2004
Posted to the web June 18, 2004
James Anyanzwa
Nairobi
The World Bank yesterday gave Kenya Sh20.4 billion ($262 million) for development of transport, agriculture and water resources.
The approval by the bank's board of the governors could lead to faster release of other donor funds desperately needed by the government for its economic recovery plan.
So far, the donors have pledged to give Kenya Sh300 billion over the next three years.
The latest funding is nearly half of what it will cost to finance President Mwai Kibaki's economic recovery plan. The rest of the funds are expected to come from taxes, the sale of public companies and investments by local and foreign businesses.
Last year, Kenya's recovery was slowed down by the slow release of the pledged donor cash. This forced Finance minister David Mwiraria to only factor in his Budget donor pledges that he was sure Kenya would receive.
The minister had pleaded with the donors to release the money faster and promised that the Narc government would demonstrate strong political commitment to good governance and ensure the money was used well.
The Sh20 billion funding, more than a third of this year's Sh57 billion Budget shortfall, comprises of Sh16.1 billion ($207 million) for the Northern Corridor Road Project, Sh3.1 billion ($40 million) for the first phase of the Kenya Agricultural Productivity Improvement Project and Sh1.17 billion ($15 million) for the Nairobi Water & Sewerage Institutional Restructuring Project.
The Sh1.17 billion for the water sector, as well as Sh1.03 billion earmarked for agriculture, are grants. The balance of the funds is soft loans, repayable over 40 years, including a 10-year grace period, at a nominal annual administration fee of 0.75 per cent.
The new financing is being provided by the bank, through its project-financing arm, the International Development Association (IDA). The funds are provided at concessionary rates, though unutilised funds incur a penalty of 0.5 per cent.
The bank's Kenya Country Director, Mr Makhtar Diop, said in a statement that this assistance reflects the bank's new engagement with the Kenya government.
Diop said the assistance is particularly important because it is being channelled to strategic economic sectors.
"The project assistance is driven by the priorities of the government's Economic Recovery Strategy and is timely as it comes soon after presentation of this year's Budget," said Diop.
He said the bulk of the funds would go towards the Northern Corridor project, which involves the upgrading of 373 km of the Mombasa-Uganda highway and the creation of a National Highways Authority to manage the nation's major roads.
A sub-component of this project involves upgrading of the Jomo Kenyatta and Moi International Airports to international standards, a key requirement that will allow direct flights to the US and other major airports across the globe.
Another component will be the strengthening of the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and the East African School of Aviation, and the improvement of air navigation safety in Kenya.
"Upgrading of the airports is also expected to boost tourism and trade," he said.
Diop said the Northern Corridor project will spur private sector-led economic growth through reducing the cost of doing business in Kenya and increasing the country's competitiveness in regional markets.
The Kenya Agricultural Productivity Improvement Project seeks to improve delivery of agricultural technology through the creation of a national agricultural research system, while offering critical support to the Kenya Agriculture Research Institute (Kari). The programme will also expand and reform the provision of agricultural extension services to give farmers more say over the delivery mechanisms for agricultural services.
Diop said the Sh1.17 billion grant for the water sector will help build an effective governance and institutional structure for the provision of water and sewerage services to the population of Nairobi.
"This will involve strengthening of the newly-created Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company and the Nairobi Water Services Board, the autonomous entity that supervises the performance of the water and sewerage company," said Diop.
He further noted that a portion of this grant will be used to design the framework for further projects in Nairobi and Mombasa, which will include providing water and sanitation services to low-income urban settlements.
"We now look forward to expeditious implementation of these projects so that wananchi (the public) can obtain the benefits outlined in the government's Economic Recovery Strategy," Diop said.
LDP, Kanu Plot to Clip Kibaki Powers
The East African Standard (Nairobi)
June 19, 2004
Posted to the web June 18, 2004
Nixon Ng'ang'a And Martin Mutua
Nairobi
Narc factional wars have taken a new dimension following moves by Kanu and the Liberal Democratic Party MPs to strip President Mwai Kibaki of powers over Parliament.
Though attempts to make Parliament independent of the Executive are not new, the latest is being seen in the context of the fight for power between LDP and the National Alliance (Party) of Kenya.
The relatively junior member for Belgut, Mr Charles Keter, is expected to move a motion next week to change the Constitution to strip the President of powers to call, prorogue and dissolve Parliament.
Such a move, observers say, would embolden efforts to impeach a president, for instance.
It is being brought as a party motion by Kanu, and is expected to be seconded by a Kanu MP, Mr Nick Salat, but it is understood to enjoy the tacit support of LDP.
Kanu has been warming up to the LDP, especially in the House, in recent weeks. They cooperated, for example, to defeat a government Bill on forests.
And yesterday, Kanu leader Uhuru Kenyatta, accompanied by a bevy of Kanu MPs, was given a rousing welcome in Kisumu, the LDP home turf, by close supporters of Roads minister Raila Odinga, the de facto LDP leader.
Those on hand to receive Uhuru included Education Assistant Minister Peter Odoyo and Kisumu Mayor Shakeel Shabir.
In his speech, Uhuru swore to work with LDP to demand that a new constitution be put in place by June 30 as promised by the President.
Though LDP is part of the government, it has often worked with the opposition to sabotage the government legislative agenda to get back at its coalition partner which it accuses of cheating it of positions promised in a power-sharing agreement.
Also likely to cause NAK power brokers sleepless nights is the fact that the lobbying for Keter's motion is so intense and so well-organised, complete with brochures.
NAK has been under almost constant political assault from LDP in a power fight that has made donors uneasy and ordinary Kenyans skeptical that the many promises Narc made at the election would be fulfilled.
But NAK this week seemed to bare its fangs with a proposed motion to sack LDP chairman David Musila as House deputy speaker.
NAK is arguing that as the chairman of a party, Musila can't and has not been impartial in his decisions from the chair.
Clearly, Parliament is the ground on which the power battle is going to be fought and NAK is being seen as moving against an arbiter likely to be hostile to it.
Musila, the Mwingi South MP, is an LDP hardliner who has had occasion to rub powerful forces around President Kibaki the wrong way.
NAK says since assuming LDP leadership, Musila's stewardship of the House has shown an open bias in what they regard to be a deliberate effort to benefit LDP or embarrass the Government.
The motion to remove the President's powers was introduced in Parliament by Belgut MP Charles Keter when Musila-who deputises for House Speaker Francis ole Kaparo-was at the Chair in what some sources say was a calculated move.
"We knew Kaparo may not consent to the motion considering a similar one sponsored by Aloo Aringo failed to materialise in 2002," a Kanu MP said.
That and the fact that the Motion did not even go through the normal balloting before the House Business Committee has caused anger among senior Kibaki men who see Musila's active "connivance" in it.
Although the motions against Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Kiraitu Murungi and Musila are being presented as the disaffection of individual MPs against the personal conduct of the two, they are every inch a battlefront for supremacy between President Kibaki and Parliament.
The motions, filed by two hardliners, Mbita MP Otieno Kajwang of LDP against Murungi and Subukia MP Koigi Wamwere of NAK against Musila come weeks after Keter gave notice of his motion.
Essentially, the motion wishes Parliament to have freedom to determine its own calendar thus making it immune from current Executive powers to close, open or dissolve it at whim.
If successful, it would be a significant erosion of the President's powers which could at the same time leave the Presidency particularly vulnerable to the Legislature as the latter, currently intimidated by Executive powers over it, has been careful not to antagonize the President.
Significantly, Musila is the nominal LDP boss while Murungi is considered to enjoy immense powers courtesy of his closeness to President Kibaki and his important Ministry.
The twin motions are seen as a tit-for-tat development that is likely to shape up as a curtain raiser for the greater battle between Kibaki men who want the President's control of Parliament to remain as a political insurance against possible Parliament's "big-headedness" and those who advocate an independent Parliament.
The pro-Parliament independence group has raised stakes in their campaigns for the Keter motion with brochures quoting Kibaki and his influential Ministers and MPs rooting for an independent Parliament.
Contributing to Aringo's Motion then, Ministers Murungi and Mukhisa Kituyi as well as Kabete MP Paul Muite, among others, are quoted as explicitly supporting the Motion.
What makes the Parliamentary battle against Kibaki and his men so uncomfortable is LDP's willingness to work with the opposition to defeat the government.
Therefore whereas Musila may survive censure through the good offices of the Kanu-LDP informal alliance, Murungi is going to have to work very hard to escape censure.
Spearheading the motion to clip presidential powers, Kanu MPs launched a lobbying offensive on Thursday.
The colour brochure was circulated to members on both sides by Kanu MPs led by Salat. The motion seeks leave to introduce a Bill to amend section 58 and 59 of the Constitution by transferring the powers vested in the president to Parliament.
Kanu Chief Whip Justin Muturi told the East African Standard that the motion enjoyed overwhelming support from MPs.
Muturi, who is leading a PIC delegation in Germany, said: "Either way we are not taking any chances and we are prepared since it is a party-sponsored motion to go all the way."
The Bill must have the support of a third of MPs, a total of 145, to become law.
During debate on Aringo's motion, Kanu, the ruling party at the time, lobbied MPs to stay away from the House and frustrate the required quorum.
It remains to be seen whether the government will travel the same road.
Fighting mighty Magendo
After 18 months in power, the government faces some critical tests in its anti-corruption struggle
‘Anti-corruption campaigns are good politics they’re popular with the voters!’ a smiling senior official told Africa Confidential last week. Yet that’s true only if the campaigns work and Kenyan voters are a sceptical lot. So the anti-corruption credentials of President Mwai Kibaki’s government are under heavy scrutiny on two counts: holding to account those responsible for the grand corruption of the 1990s and early 2000 - the fake export schemes, the land grabs, the extorters of commissions on contracts and trade; and more urgently, to stop those corrupt practices from continuing under the new order.
Procurement is big business: about half of the government’s budget of over 200 billion Kenya shillings is spent on procurement and now subject, in theory, to the more stringent rules, introduced last year. Previously, procurement decisions had been devolved to individual ministries: the new rules centralise decision-making in the Treasury with decisions taken by the Permanent Secretary, subject to final assessment by the Finance Minister. These rules are critical in an investigation into a KSh2.85 bn. passport contract which is testing government resolve, not least because it is claimed that some senior government figures are implicated in the deal.
The contract to buy passport-issuing equipment for the government started at KSh3.800 million, was then inflated to KSh2.85 mn. and awarded to French-based Groupe François Charles Oberthur, without competitive tender. That figure broke the government’s budget so the contract’s sponsors brought in the mysterious Anglo Leasing & Finance, whose Managing Director is a builder based in the Liverpool, Britain.
Africa Confidential, 05/28/2004
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