Murungaru's Eventful Day In Court

Drama At Nairobi Law Courts As...
...Anglo Leasing Suspects Begin To Crack Under Pressure

There was a very popular German detective series that used to run on KBC TV called Derrick.

This detective’s method of solving murders was easy. He just kept the pressure on the key suspects and sooner or later they cracked.

Last week on Friday some of the key Anglo leasing scandal suspects started to crack under pressure and to make mistakes.

Mistake Number One:
The Meru people are known for their vicious tempers and true to form former Minister Kiraitu Murungi could no longer hold back his anger towards the press. When asked what he was doing at former powerful Minister Chris Murungaru’s court appearance, he told off the media in no uncertain terms and blurted out that they were the cause for his losing his ministerial position.

Aha! So Bwana Kiraitu did not resign and step aside for investigations to be done, as we were so eloquently told? So he was actually fired by a considerate boss who wanted him to regain his dignity? “Yes, yes, I was fired and you were the cause,” he said angrily pointing out that the press had hounded him out of office.

Note: This blog indicated from day one that nobody resigned. Ministers in Kenya never resign. They were all asked to resign (the true and only translation of that is that they were fired… softly.

Mistake Number Two:
Former Minister Kiraitu Murungi, and former long serving aide to President Kibaki, Alfred Gitonga were in seen in court with former Minister Christopher Murungaru as the latter was charged with failure to disclose his wealth to the Kenya Anti Corruption Commission.

Why were Murungi and Gitonga there? What vital clues does this event have concerning the mysterious goings on behind the scenes of the Anglo Leasing scandal?

The mistake the trio have made is in the fact that their presence in court spoke volumes. It sends forward the following clear message;

1) Whatever Murungaru is being accused of and whatever his current troubles are, they are in on it. They have a lot of information.
2) They are angry with their boss for firing them and want to send a subtle message to him that they are united in grief and could easily start talking. In other words their presence in courts was a threat, because they knew full well that the press would go crazy photographing them.
3) One person’s absence from the scene also spoke loudly. That of former Finance minister Daudi Mwiraria. He is very close to the President and he predictably stayed away. Whatever message he has for the president he is well able to pass personally without using such mafia tactics as his former colleagues were forced to.
4) When you take Murungaru’s recent comments where he said the President and the entire cabinet were all aware of the Anglo Leasing contracts and that the President approved them, then this latest development adds up. Meaning that the mastermind behind this side show is none other than Mr Murungaru himself.

Conclusion
Playing Detective Derrick here, the only conclusion I can draw is that the government has no intention of going through with the prosecution of Anglo Leasing suspects. They cannot afford to because to quote a popular Mafia phrase the guys will start “singing like some lousy birds”. The song they will sing will implicate so many other people that it will not be possible for this government to survive.

And that is why bringing in the Goldenberg scandal makes sense to the whole game plan. Involve so many powerful people that prosecution will be impossible. So what will happen here is that the court appearances and circus will continue until the general elections where all attention will shift towards those elections and hopefully the whole thing will be forgotten or the pressure will ease adequately for the government to use the tired old line; “we are still trying to gather enough evidence to get successful conviction.”

Not a bad strategy except for one thing. Things have changed in Kenya and this will no longer work. Let’s wait and see shall we?

P.S. Poor Mrs Murungaru.
Why drag her along to court for this circus? She’s married to the man but she has hardly been tugging along to other public functions. Now when the man is in some trouble, she suddenly makes an appearance. To make matters worse it is a well know fact that like most senior politicians in Kenya today, her husband has been quite close to some other women, including a well known nominated Member of Parliament. I will say no more because this blog was never intended to be a scandal sheet.

Please leave your poor wife out of it, sir.

Anyway having a few girl friends on the side is no big deal in Kenyan politics. Almost all politicians have them.