We may wait longer to know architects of mega scandal

The hall of infamy has in the last decade found space for a faceless individual in the midst of a coterie featuring a fat cat, vulture, pig, hyena and other dubious characters imagined by Gaddo, Nation Media Group’s incomparable editorial cartoonist.

The ghost character with a protruding belly may not have a mouth to puff on fine cigars like the sartorially suave fat cat, flash an impish grin like the hyena or display glint of satiety in the manner of the briefcase-carrying pig, but he is as much a monument to the spectrum of corruption and impunity afflicting Kenya.

Goldenberg, one of Kenya’s worst corruption scandals, is often represented in flesh and blood by Mr Kamlesh Pattni, who now styles himself as a latter-day Saul-to-Paul. But its Anglo Leasing twin has, for a decade, had to make do with a ghost — Gaddo’s sketchy outline of a human head devoid of features or emotion.

That is because of the bizarre narrative that started when the Government of Kenya signed multi-million-shillings contracts with Anglo Leasing Finance, a shadowy international company.

A SKUNK FOR A PET

When the ghostly tale unravelled, with the help of Mr John Githongo — a senior government official-turned-whistle-blower (or “traitor” in some quarters) — it was soon apparent there were other Anglo Leasing type contracts that the government later cancelled.

The scandal dented the credibility of the then starry-eyed Narc government of President Mwai Kibaki that had, upon assuming office in 2003, advised the ousted Kanu regime and retired President Daniel Moi to sit back and “watch how a government should run”.

Ironically, Narc had inherited the Anglo Leasing contracts from Kanu, a situation Mr Githongo, then self-exiled in the United Kingdom, captured in 2006 in a moment of metaphorical genius.

“Kanu handed us a skunk and we took it home as a pet. Not only did we assume the dubious transactions of the past, we used the same corrupt model to create our own shady deals. If you take a skunk home as a pet, it is yours together with its disturbing fragrance,” he had said, adding that it was dishonest to blame the original owner of the skunk for the smell. 

Narc had in 2004 come under considerable moral pressure after then British High Commissioner Edward Clay gave a scathing anti-corruption speech citing Anglo Leasing, among other scandals. Some state officials, he said, were eating like gluttons and “vomiting all over our shoes”.   

Over the years, the foul Anglo Leasing smell has lingered in the air and along the corridors of justice at home and abroad. The scandal has also spawned a string of memorable corruption lexicon. Mr Kiraitu Murungi, the then Narc Justice minister and now Meru Senator, called it “the scandal that never was” as all the government money was supposedly refunded — by nameless and faceless individuals no less. He may have spoken too soon.

Mr Murungi was to later “step aside” in 2006 after the BBC played an audio recording leaked by Mr Githongo where the minister supposedly asked him to “go slow” on  Anglo Leasing investigations. Finance minister David Mwiraria also had to resign while Vice President Moody Awori and Internal Security minister Chris Murungaru had to defend themselves against allegations in Mr Githongo’s dossier linking them to the scandal. All of these individuals were later cleared.

OUR TURN TO EAT

The Anglo Leasing story has also been a literary inspiration with Michela Wrong’s book, It’s Our Turn to Eat, being the most famous.

And Mr Murungi published a collection of poems in 2006 that touched on various subjects, including his tribulations. Further, a 2012 autobiography, Kiraitu Murungi: An odyssey in Kenyan Politics, by Mr Peter Kagwanja and Mr Humphrey Ringera, spares space for the politician’s version of events surrounding Anglo Leasing.

But ghosts, common wisdom dictates, never really die. They just fade away and return to haunt. And skunk pets seem to be difficult to get rid of even for new “digital” house owners. The year-old Jubilee administration is now grappling with the headache of a Sh1.4 billion demand from two Anglo Leasing related companies.

In the meantime, Gaddo may have to wait a while longer to assign facial features to his ghost cartoon character.