Business Report (South Africa)
July 29, 2004

Nairobi: Kenya had asked six countries to help find evidence abroad for its probe into alleged government corruption, the country’s top anti-graft official, permanent secretary for governance and ethics John Githongo, told the Daily Nation yesterday.

The US, Britain, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Switzerland had been asked to help investigate foreign links to a flawed 2.7 billion Kenyan shilling (R213 million) government project, said Githongo.

Kenya is under fire for tolerating corruption in high places and top international donors have warned that it risks losing vital funding if it fails to tackle the problem.

“We recognise that our credibility in the fight against corruption is being judged on these investigations,” Githongo said.

The government has admitted to “serious irregularities” over the project to improve Kenya’s system of issuing passports, which involved Anglo Leasing, a private company. The firm has denied any wrongdoing.

Githongo said that Kenya had asked for help after it found that Anglo Leasing had given addresses in the six countries concerned.

The EU said last week it had postponed a decision on a e125 million (R960 million) aid package, citing concerns over governance.

Finance minister David Mwiraria said 11.5 percent of Kenya’s budget would be funded by donors.