Moi not immune from prosecution, says Kenya
December 23, 2003
By Sapa-DPA
Nairobi - The Kenyan government would not grant former president Daniel arap Moi immunity from prosecution on corruption charges, Kenyan media reported yesterday.
But neither would the government target Moi personally in its crackdown on corruption, John Githongo, the permanent secretary for governance and ethics, told The Daily Nation newspaper.
Instead, the government would focus on how officials in the former government were able to siphon between $1 billion and $4 billion, said Githongo. "If his [Moi's] name comes up during the investigations, then we expect to pursue this to its logical conclusion and he will be prosecuted," said Githongo.
He was reacting to a BBC report on Sunday that said the government would grant Moi immunity from prosecution on corruption-related charges because the former president had agreed to hand over power peacefully in elections a year ago.
"All we're saying is that we recognise that former president Moi is a different Kenyan. Everyone else is fair game," Githongo told the BBC.
On Sunday night he issued a press release saying: "The government wishes to state that it is not treating anyone as an exception in respect of corruption charges and that it has not granted immunity from prosecution to any individual."
Githongo was later unavailable for comment.
Kenyan authorities are tracking down at least $1 billion siphoned out of the country by the former government. Some of the money has been located in European countries such as the UK and Switzerland, as well as the Cayman Islands, according to an international financial consultancy hired by the Kenyan government.
Some of the money had been transferred to Zimbabwe, South Africa and Botswana, said assistant justice minister Robinson Githae. These countries have not signed the UN international convention against corruption, which Kenya and the UK signed on December 9.
Most of the missing funds are associated with an export company called Goldenberg International.
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