Does ODM-Kenya Have Big Plans For John Githongo?

The former permanent secretary for governance and ethics, John Githongo has yet again taken a swipe at the Kibaki administration raising more questions than answers as to why he fired the salvo at the beginning of an election year.

Most interesting is that the former anti-corruption czar does not release any new information in his latest statement to the two leading newspapers in the country, the Daily Nation and the East African Standard (and only vows to do so in the near future).

It therefore came as no surprise when the burly Githongo was asked about the rumours at ODM-Kenya to the effect that the party has lined him up for the post of head of the public service and secretary to the cabinet should they ascend to power.

Githongo vehemently denied the 'talk' and said he had not reached any deal with the ODM-Kenya leaders and answered with a question: who in ODM would want to work with him after his tenure with Kibaki which saw him being uncompromising when it came to corruption.

Another school of thought says that Githongo who is considered a hero by majority of Kenyans is the perfect person to be used in an anti-Kibaki campaign (the emphasis is on the word "used"). Not only is he seen as being a man of probity, but he also has the ammunition to politically bury his former boss.

The sly ODM-Kenya brigade know this only too well and they are bound to try their best to get to use him to 'finish' Kibaki. However it is clear that many of the corrupt characters within ODM will not be as naïve as to want him anywhere near such an influential and powerful position if they form the next government.

Githongo has already indicated that he is homesick and would be glad to return home not to mention that the English weather has a bad effect on those who come from the tropics as the cold there is known to be almost unbearable sometimes.

Word is out that the last has not been heard from Githongo who is said to be preparing another detailed dossier on how senior government officials fleeced billions of shillings from public coffers through dubious procurement contracts. Githongo would want us to believe that he has left the most damning and juiciest for the end.

In the much talked about Anglo Leasing scandal which Githongo exposed, the government committed almost Sh 50 billion to 18 clearly dubious contracts with non-existent companies for the supply of goods which were never delivered yet some payments had already been effected.

Most of these deals included defense contracts including acquiring a boat for the Kenyan navy and telecommunication gear for the police along with the construction of a military command post in the Karen area known as project 'NEXUS'.

Vice president Moody Awori, Minister Kiraitu Murungi, his former cabinet colleagues Chris Murungaru and David Mwiraria along with Attorney General Amos Wako were implicated in the multi million scandals but nothing much has been done to date.

Murungi was sacked but recently reinstated by Kibaki while Murungaru and Mwiraria are still in the cold with Murungaru facing a court case arisising from the deals.

The Anglo Leasing scandal is probably the worst thing that ever happened to Kibaki's presidency and will obviously dent the legacy which the London-School-of-Economis- trained economist wanted to leave behind.

This will be the excess baggage that he will have to carry as he prepares for his re-election later this year in a polls that he may lose mainly due to the scandal which implicated his bosom friends who also happened to be senior government officials at the time.

Githongo resigned his position and fled the country as a result of the scandal. He claimed he received death threats and warnings to stop pursuing the matter by senior cabinet ministers including Murungi who was recently reinstated and given back his old ministry of energy to the chagrin of majority of Kenyans.

Having been elected on an anti corruption platform, the Kibaki administration could easily lose the forthcoming elections on account of the Anglo Leasing scandal and who better to remind Kenyans of that multi million dubious deal than John Githongo himself.

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