The founder of Transparency International’s Kenyan chapter is the catalyst behind the exposure of continuing corruption in a government whose current president, Mwai Kibaki, vowed to root out graft when he came to power in 2002. When Githongo was appointed to investigate corruption, it appears that the government underestimated how seriously he would take his job.

In January 2005, Githongo resigned from his post and went into exile in England, taking with him ‘crucial papers relating to tens of millions in corrupt deals’, according to the BBC. He then compiled a dossier detailing his anti-corruption investigations, leaked to the press in January of this year. The dossier contained details of more than US$ 1 billion in fraudulent government deals.

Some of these sums relate to allegations dubbed the ‘Anglo Leasing affair’, described by the BBC as government money that ‘was being paid to companies that exist or to others which were massively overpricing their contracts’. This cash was supposedly given to business figures close to the government, who re-directed a portion of it back to the ruling elite for political campaigning.

Africa Confidential reports that this has since caused the loss of three ministers, shattering the ‘Mount Kenya Mafia’ surrounding Kibaki. The Independent writes that this is the first time that graft allegations have claimed such high level figures. The Guardian writes that ‘Kenya's former anti-corruption chief has done his country a service by revealing evidence of a multimillion-pound scam allegedly involving senior government figures’.

The US and the UK have placed travel restrictions on Kenyan figures implicated in the fraud allegations, and the World Bank froze aid to the country in the wake of the scandal, outlining a list of conditions to be met before aid will be reinstated.

Parliament was reopened on 21 March following a five-month recess. The Standard reported that in his address, Kibaki ‘warned corrupt individuals not to test the Government’s resolve to fight graft, saying the institutions put in place were alert and would spare no one.’ On 7 March, The Independent carried a report that the Kenyan government had hired the London-based advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi to mastermind its nationwide anti-corruption campaign.

The Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) under Aaron Ringera has interviewed Githongo in London and is continuing investigations in Kenya on behalf of the Kenyan government, reported The Standard. On 18 March, Githongo stated in The New York Times that only about 30 percent of the extent of corruption in Kenya has yet been revealed, and he is now pushing British officials to investigate the involvement of British businessmen in suspect contracts ( The Guardian).

Githongo’s efforts have ensured that corruption is placed firmly on the political agenda for the Kenyan presidential elections in 2007. He has demonstrated resolve that any pledges to tackle corruption should move beyond rhetoric and into concerted actions. As he says in The New York Times interview, “We need to get our act together.”