Kenyan President Moi's 'corruption' laid bare

By Nick Wadhams in Nairobi
Last Updated: 2:08am BST 01/09/2007


Ex-Kenyan president's 'corruption' laid bare
Mr Moi and his sons remain highly influential in Kenya

A confidential report published on the Internet purports to expose details of the massive corruption perpetrated by former Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi and his two sons, including drug dealing, money laundering, and kickbacks.

The report - marked "legally privileged and confidential" - was written by the Kroll risk consultancy at the behest of the Kenyan government in 2004. It was believed to be a fulfillment of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki's promise to eradicate the corruption of Moi's 24-year rule.

Yet the report was never acted on and Mr Moi and his sons remain highly influential in Kenya. Gideon Moi is an MP, Philip is a businessman, and former President Moi was recently named special envoy to Sudan's north-south peace process. He also made waves this week when he announced he would back Mr Kibaki in his bid for a second term in elections set for later this year.

According to the report, Mr Moi and his sons used a web of front men to manage their businesses or hide their money. It estimated that Gideon Moi was worth some £550 million as of 2002, while Philip was worth about £384 million.


Kroll refused to comment on the authenticity of the report. Mr Kibaki's government distanced itself from the newly-released report. Government spokesman Alfred Mutua called its release a "political gimmick" ahead of the elections and said the document would never hold up in court.

"The government of Kenya believes that the leaking of this report is meant to score political points against Kibaki," Mr Mutua said.

According to the Kroll report, Mr Moi himself had some 50 companies across Kenya, was co-owner of a Belgian bank and had accounts in nations around the world. He allegedly had heavy investments in Namibia because he knew that his money would be protected by the president at the time, Sam Nujoma, a friend.

His son Philip allegedly dealt in drugs that included marijuana and cocaine, even stuffing drugs in hollowed-out furniture for export. He would put wealth away in the name of "low-key Asians and houseboys who know little about the wealth in their names," the report said.

And toward the end of Mr Moi's term, Gideon would boast that "any deal below a million US dollars is not worth his while."

The Kroll report estimated that Mr Moi and his associates squirreled away hundreds of millions of pounds around the world, including the UK, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands. The report itself cautions that follow-up work needs to be done to confirm many of the claims it presents. Nonetheless, it offers one of the few detailed accounts of just how exactly Mr Moi's family allegedly amassed its fortune.

"The suspicion has always been there but to put a number of that magnitude to it is quite a revelation," said David Ndii, a research adviser with the Kenya branch of Transparency International. "The regime saw a lot of corruption, there are people locally who enriched themselves unjustly, that we know. But concrete information of that nature has never been in the public domain."

The report also describes several suspicious meetings. In 2002, Mr Moi traveled with Gideon to Luxembourg to introduce his son to the family bankers. The report claims that the two traveled only with one aide, and were picked up for their meetings in a simple car that would not attract attention.

After the 2002 election, the report notes a "marked flurry of activity" by Mr Moi's family and their associates to "pre-empt any possibility of losing their wealth to the government."

It describes a family meeting with a trusted lawyer who tells them to squirrel their money away in banks abroad. The lawyer said the Kenyan government would have more trouble getting at funds overseas, particularly if no one could tell if the money was legally obtained or not.

The Kroll report first appeared on the Web site Wikileaks, whose mission is to publish documents obtained by whistleblowers. Its appearance was first reported by the Guardian in its Friday editions.

Anti-corruption campaigners had known of the existence of the report for some time, but never its content. Mwalimu Mati, director of the anti-corruption Mars Group Kenya, said he believed that allies of Mr Moi managed to warn Mr Kibaki's team off any investigation in 2004.

Just as Mr Kibaki's team began investigating corruption, it was hit with its own corurption scandal, dubbed Anglo Leasing, in early 2004.

"There was a feeling that pursuing corruption of the past was provoking corruption allegations in the present," Mr Mati said.

One question.....

What is the solution to Corrupt leaders and corruption in Africa?

Kenya dismisses Moi graft claims

Kenya's government has described as not credible a leaked report which allegedly says former President Daniel arap Moi stole millions of dollars.

The report was commissioned by the current government soon after it was elected in 2002 but never published.

Government spokesman Alfred Mutua said the 2004 report was based on hearsay and was incomplete and inaccurate.

According to the leak, it says Mr Moi, his family and associates plundered as much as $2bn from the taxpayer.

The report was allegedly leaked to a website Wikileaks which exposes corruption.

It is claimed the money was invested in businesses, banks, property, and deposit accounts throughout the world.

Former President Moi has been unavailable for comment.

'Gimmick'

Earlier this week, Mr Moi announced he was backing the re-election campaign of President Mwai Kibaki, who defeated Mr Moi's preferred candidate in the 2002 elections.

Mr Mutua said the leak was "meant to score political points against Kibaki".

"This report touches on at least 50 individuals - why did they just isolate the Moi family? It's a political gimmick."

Correspondents say the former leader, who ruled Kenya for 24 years, still wields great political influence.

President Kibaki came to power promising to rid the country of corruption and one of the government's first acts was to commission the report by business consultants Kroll Associates.

However, the BBC's Adam Mynott in Nairobi says Kenya remains mired in corruption and the current government itself has been rocked by a multi-million dollar scandal.

K - this is a serious problem. I know I always go on about african unity or more the lack of but if we really check it out, financially we don't need every single African and African descendant united as one to move forward...we just need enough. If you look at most societies the smallest section control the majority of the wealth.

Solution - I'd say start from capitalism and work your way up...but ultimately we must stop despising one another.

i hope guys my age and younger take lesson from this. We the young are the future and once these cum are gone we can move forward.

these old African political leaders have lost all sense of direction. But they will pay for thier sins...that's one thing i can asure you.