BY SAM ALFAN.
Former president Mwai Kibaki did not act on a report prepared by ant graft czar, John Githongo who had exposed the controversial Anglo-Leasing scandal.
The court also heard that Mr Githongo did not act on a request made to him by former Chairman of the defunct Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) boss, retired Appellate Judge Aaron Ringera, who had invited him to shed light into the corruption saga.
The Anglo-Leasing scandal had at the time, shocked the country, and caused several senior state officials to resign.
Githongo had resigned on February 2, 2005, while on an official trip to London that had started on January 24, 2005.
He had sent his dossier to then President Kibaki on November 22, 2005, long after he had quit the civil service but no action was taken despite public uproar, he told High Court Judge Joseph Sergon.
The former PS said he had met former Energy minister Simeon Nyachae on October 20, 2014, and discussed high-level corruption that had permeated Kibaki’s administration. Murungaru and some of his Cabinet colleagues were allegedly involved in a mission to secure Sh5 billion from corrupt activities for political campaign purposes, he said.
“My frustration was that nothing was being done about the exposure of the perpetrators of these corrupt activities,” Githongo explained during his cross-examination by lawyer Kioko Kilukumi in the defamation suit against him by Dr Murungaru.
Githongo recalled that two senior journalists from the Nation Media Group travelled to London in January 2006 and interviewed him about the dossier that had already circulated in diplomatic circles in Nairobi. What followed was a serialization of a book by renowned author Michela Wrong featuring his war against graft in the Kibaki administration.
Githongo admitted that he provided the Nation Media Group with the tape-recordings of his various conversations with key Government players who had implicated Murungaru in corruption but they were not aired.
He then gave an interview to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on February 9, 2006 and provided them with his 36-page dossier that was prominently displayed on their website.
The former PS recalled that the special audit report by the Auditor-General dated April 10, 2006, relating to the 18 contentious government contracts did not specifically identify Dr Murungaru as a suspect in corrupt dealings.
There existed no tape recording of his conversations with Dr Murungaru relating to the contracts, he said.
Githongo was put to task over his assertion that Dr Murungaru had orchestrated his transfer from State House to the ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs over his active involvement in the war against corruption.
He had been returned upon pressure by foreign envoys who were supporting the fight against corruption, he said.
The hearing continues tomorrow morning.
