The political storm which has arisen over Kenyan President Kibaki’s hasty attempt to reappoint Justice Ringera as head of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, without the approval of parliament or the KACC advisory board, has resulted in some old unresolved corruption matters being brought back into the public view. In particular, it has been alleged that Justice Ringera, instead of investigating the Anglo Leasing scandal, helped to cover it up.
The former KACC board chairman Ahmednasir Abdullahi has been reported as saying, “Kibaki and Ringera have a symbiotic relationship on Anglo Leasing. Kibaki makes sure Ringera has his job while Ringera makes sure very little is done to establish the details of the scandal.” Michaela Wrong’s book It’s Our Turn to Eat, which is about the former Ethics and Governance Permanent Secretary John Githongo, says that Ringera communicated death threats to Githongo relating to Anglo Leasing.
According to the book, Anglo Leasing was a scam in which President Kibaki and senior members of his government enriched themselves at public expense. Kibaki had come to power in Kenya in 2002 with the fight against corruption as one of his key policies, and while some minor steps forward in the war against corruption were taken early in Kibaki’s reign, the government has since been beset by major scandal after major scandal.