In the past few weeks the Kenyan media has been awash with corruption related stories at different levels. Even when Pope Francis visited Kenya, he talked tough on the vice. President Uhuru Kenyatta had equated it to sin.
Writing on corruption has landed journalists in trouble: John Ngirachu of Nation newspaper and Alphonce Shiundu of Standard felt the heat from the government which thought they were stretching their imaginations too far while sourcing for corruption stories touching on some powerful institutions in the land. That is a story for another day.
Since corruption is taking wide strides in Kenya, the consumers of the information are getting a raw deal. Journalists are not making deliberate efforts in breaking down the scandals to be understood by the masses who may not comprehend the jargon emanating from Treasury. Business reporters can initiate the move by demystifying the figures and statistics so that a fish monger at Mageta Island can be on the same page with a learned teenager from Buruburu in grasping the gist of the story.
Let us begin with Devolution ministry where the then Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru admitted that close to Sh800 million had vanished under unclear circumstances.
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The admission was the genesis of the story, but the follow-ups were not exhibiting how grave the issue was. It was okay to record her denials before she resigned on medical grounds. It was fine too to follow her to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission centre where her lawyer said she would be a witness in the case.
It was also responsible for the journalists to camp outside her home when EACC detectives raided and even searched her handbag according to her lawyer. For radio guys, they needed powerful sound bytes, TV crews were eager to get emotional cut -ways as their print counterparts were keen to ensure they gave the story in volumes.
However, the gravity of the matter should be the worth of Sh790 million in a country where a large chunk of its citizens are living on one dollar a day.
Since NYS has been constructing dams, how many of them can be created with the money? If that money can be used, for example, in helping the old, how many wazee’s can benefit? What about those living with disabilities and lack some basic aids like wheelchairs, braille machines, skin oils for those living with albinism and so on, to accomplish their daily goals? If we link the colossal amount with realities on the ground, people will understand the magnitude of the matter and give sound judgements.
What about the Eurobond? It is an evasive eight letter word with few interpreters. For football fanatics the word Euro may be mistaken for UEFA or EURO cups. They will start talking of Messi, Ronaldo, Hazard and of course the mighty Rooney for their dribbling and scoring prowess. However, it is not a playful subject. It is a humongous amount of cash that cannot be accounted for.
It was prudent to cover Raila Odinga’s claims that Sh140 billion of the scheme is unaccounted for, because he set the agenda for the debate. Some independent financial gurus have also said the same. Now this issue of Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich calling Raila to his office to furnish him on Eurobond transaction was not weighty. Similarly Mr Odinga’s gesture of inviting Mr Rotich to take documents to his office, I thought, was out of place.
Let us assume the money is lost as reported. Sh140 billion is almost equivalent to the budget of the Ministry of Education. This includes salaries for more than 250,000 teachers, their allowances, construction of classes. Enough also to carter for the school feeding programme for millions of students for a whole year. It can take care of Security entirely.
In fact before the restructuring of the Cabinet, that amount could foot the operations of close to eight ministries. The Ministry of Mining had a budget of Sh2 billion while Agriculture got Sh46 billion. The same money can construct five Thika Highways!
Again, since this is not an amount to hide under a mattress, how much interest can it earn if banked for a year? It will be better to look for the impact of the monies than for the sideshows.
