Kibaki should act decisively on corruption

By merely shifting Chris Murungaru, whose ministry has been the citadel of corruption to another ministry in yesterday’s reshuffle, Kibaki merely succeeded in giving him another chance to continue with his looting. If Kibaki was really serious about tackling the emerging corruption, he would have sacked all those ministers implicated in corrupt deals. That way, he would have sent a clear signal to other members of the cabinet who might be tempted to dip their fingers in the till.

But yesterday’s mini shuffle only attests to Kibaki’s quest for political survival. He does not want to lose his political cronies and former college mates at Kampala’s Makerere University. In a bid to woo Coast province MPs who have recently become his harshest critics, he has appointed political neophyte Ananiah Mwaboza, who is yet to be sworn in as an MP, an assistant minister for tourism and wildlife.

Kibaki has also not replaced his advisor on corruption John Githongo who last week quit in a huff and is still holed up in London. Neither did he point a finger at his friend David Mwiraria, whose ministry of finance has been approving shady tenders. Zero tolerance of corruption indeed!