John Githongo

John Githongo (born 1965) is a former Kenyan journalist who investigated bribery and fraud in Kenya and later, under the presidency of Mwai Kibaki, took on an official governmental position to fight corruption. In 2005 he left that position, later accusing top ministers of large-scale fraud. In the Anglo-leasing corruption which he blew the lid over, fraudulent deliveries of government military and forensic laboratory equipment were allegedly ordered, "delivered" and the payment completed in the former president Uhuru Kenyatta's tenure. The story of his fight against corruption is told in Michela Wrong's book It's Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistle-Blower. Quotes The most insidious impact of corruption in society is not the money that is lost but the trust it undermines among people. The most insidious impact of corruption in society is not the money that is lost but the trust it undermines among people in their leaders, institutions, politics and sometimes even among themselves. Corruption among leaders forces them to rationalize it; to distract citizens from their profligacy; justify it to themselves – none of these can be achieved without creating divisions in society to weaken popular forces coalescing together against the abuses corruption implies. In an interview It is in all societies to some extent. Over the past 30 years we have focused on building Western style institutions and passing associated laws to deal with corruption. This has not worked without us engaging the norms of society. Corruption is diminished at best and managed at worst when there are social sanctions that attend to it in a society. When thieves are celebrated; when they even ascend to high office; when they continue to be accepted in general society – that creates a permissive environment for graft that no law or institution can manage. In an interview Globalization has made the legal sector, banking and other service sector players central to the architecture of corruption. In the past we treated politicians and businessmen as the originators of corruption; today where a group of accountants, lawyers, bankers, public relations professionals and briefcase influence brokers meet – the most sophisticated scams are engineered. As a result, some of the most corrupt places on the planet are jurisdictions in developed countries where illicit funds are hidden and protected jealously and with impunity. The past eight years have been the most corrupt period in the history of Kenya in part because the elite has been able to concentrate on white collar corruption that is slower and more difficult to detect early. The signs of this are rapidly increasing debt levels and debt distress in many countries. In an interview We can only speculate on that, but it would seem the Ugandan government targeted a range of progressive independent African media sites in the period preceding and immediately after their elections in January 2021. The Elephant often publishes authors who have difficulty being published in their own countries and on subjects that governments would rather remain hidden such as corruption among the elite. Qurium’s Bifrost mirror was absolutely essential to keeping the Elephant running during this time. The services of organizations like Qurium are essential to freedom of speech and an independent media. This is becoming all the more important during the global democratic recession we are in and the impact this has had on the media which is the cutting edge of democracy. In an interview Violence as a political tool is something that has long been used in Kenya. We have a rich history of using it strategically. It comes with our kind of politics. What we are seeing now is localized violence, the result of a struggle for power that comes from the competition for resources due to an increasing amount of international and local elite interest in our newfound oil, natural gas, gold, as well as our fertile land. All those things combined means that the politicians are still using violence as a political tool. But unlike 2007, it is at a local, contained level. It is below the radar of the international criminal court. It is, however, spreading and exposing the dysfunction in our security infrastructure. The fundamental reason Kenya went for a devolved government was to increase accountability. Before, power was centralized to the point that we had a one-party state - it was very corrupt, there was a climate of fear. And it was with a great sigh of relief that we left that almost authoritarian rule. So the things that Kenya has been pushing for ever since—improvements in the judiciary, in the police force, in government institutions—has all been focused on increasing the accountability of the elite. We have a very entrenched elite in Kenya, a very ossified elite. It is a broad governance problem. A drought is made by God, a famine is made by man. It draws on all the issues you mention. It used to be every 10 years that we would have a big drought. Then it became every four years, and then it became every two years. This is due to climate change, increase population, soil degradation, etc. We have a strategic grain reserve, and that's when it becomes a corruption problem. Drought is big money for the corrupt elite—because it gives you the opportunity to import maize and other staples into the country and make a killing off of the backs of hungry people. No. I think that there is a deliberate lack of preparedness on the part of the elites. Kenya does not need international assistance. Kenya collects enough in taxes to feed its people. We actually don't need all this assistance, but the preparations are not made. It's an underlying fundamental governance failure that creates a situation where you have this rather ridiculous relationship that is sustained and really you know, it is up to Kenyans to sort ourselves out in this area. The humanitarian agencies are stuck – what can they do? They come in—they genuinely save lives in a situation where the local government is not that interested in doing that. Then they step back and go to another place where the same thing is happening and then come back in a few years time. I think some of the humanitarian agencies don't have it as part of their mandate to look at these governance issues—they respond to emergencies. External links Category:Journalists from Kenya Category:1965 births Category:Living people