The onset of the campaigns and the barrage of promises will attempt to direct and redirect Kenyans' attentions away from the truth, at the politicians' whim. Currently, the ODM party leads this crusade, promising to deal with the corrupt Kibaki government and its thieving officials. But the attentive voter must watch carefully and see whether the 'hammer' does drop on the real culprits, and guard that in seeking to settle scores with one side, we do not bless the crimes of the other.

It is imperative now that we flip the coin and find out more about the people we would charge with saving Kenya from the jaws of corruption and the bad governance of the Moi and Kibaki governments.

The Archbishop and I

Starting with the ODM, the reform party and the poll leaders of the minute, it is clear that not all is as is sold to us.

Not too long ago, when the ODM-K was still intact, William Ruto, Musalia Mudavadi, Uhuru Kenyatta, Kalonzo Musyoka and Raila Odinga were supposed to attend a bond-building meeting in London. In the end, only Raila attended the meeting, accompanied by South Mugirango MP Omingo Magara. Ruto and Mudavadi stayed away, excusing themselves with the ruse that they had not applied for travel visas. Kalonzo on his part alleged that the meeting had been called to declare Raila Tosha. Interestingly and not incidentally, that meeting was found to have been organised by Gilbert Deya, who is wanted in Kenya on charges of child-trafficking.

Following the uproar over the UK trip, journalists carried out a little sleuthing, and it was soon clear that there was more to Ruto's absence from the get-together than first met the eye. It turned out that the UK visa was denied on account of his court-case for the grab-and-sale of forest land at premium prices to the Kenya Pipeline Company. UK travel regulations it was reported, preclude the entry into the country of persons in court on allegations of corruption. One finds it is difficult also to forget where the name of William Ruto first impinged on the public consciousness. Do you remember the roles of Ruto and Cyrus Jirongo in the 1990-1992 plunder of the economy? Is this camaraderie what drew Jirongo to his fellows in ODM?

William Ruto is however, only the number three in the ODM pecking order. What about the projected next Vice President Musalia Mudavadi? He has restricted his movement to within the borders of Kenya, perhaps on account of the continued shadow of his involvement in the Goldenberg scandal. It is only Raila Odinga the ODM chief who is able to travel abroad on fundraising missions for the party, as his fellow Pentagon chiefs have travel restrictions that prevent their travel, especially to the EU and the USA. Even as our future Vice President protests his innocence, it is instructive that his boss, the ODM candidate has not retracted a statement he made before the elections in 2002. In it he invited Mudavadi to come clean on the Goldenberg saying:

"Musalia and (President) Moi know the whole truth about Goldenberg and they should come out clean. Mudavadi was the Finance Minister in 1993. He first paid out the Sh5.8 billion in export compensation and then the Sh13.5 billion. I know what I am talking about. I stand for the truth and the VP and the President should come out and prove me wrong."

Dick Berg; picture Daily Nation

That Raila's 2002 pre-election statement was a retraction of one he had made earlier putting former Vice President George Saitoti on the spot for the Goldenberg scandal, compels us to take this second proclamation very seriously. It was he then said, a studied opinion and not one based on hearsay. If, as some maintain, Raila 's leadership will itself protect the ODM from temptation to corruption, then we must pre-suppose that Raila's judgement is reliable. Subsequently, his selection of a man that he himself had previously stated was responsible for the greatest theft in our history to the position of running mate, begs that we question his sincerity and his graft-fighting credentials.

And those powers of discernment, are hardly luxuries especially as the ODM lists are filled with politicians of less than innocent inclinations. Party chairman Henry Kosgey was part of the team that
brought in Dick Berg to execute the 1997 "4th All African Games" looting. Berg was the marketing consultant appointed to oversee the 4th All-Africa Games in 1987. He fled the country with 200 million shillings even before the games had begun. And those games are but a small part of Kosgey's portfolio. The Tinderet MP has also been accused of complicity in many other economic crimes, including most prominently the total enervation and subsequent collapse of the Kenya National Assurance Company.

The question then, is why the ODM presidential candidate would surround himself with men of such questionable repute, especially if as advertised, he was, determined to clean Kenya up. Is it perhaps because like them he too is reeking of scandal? News reports from two years ago show just how fast Raila ran to court to block legal action against him on account of the land that he had received just 5 days after the NDP joined KANU. The Odinga family paid 4 million shillings for 240 acres of prime industrial land in Kisumu. That is a measly sh16, 000 per acre. What was peculiar about the case was not that the charges were brought up against the charismatic ODM candidate, but the vigour with which he warned Justice Minister Martha Karua against investigating him or his family.

Mr Goldenberg?

Does the rule of law not demand that everyone is investigated and consequently absolved or convicted by the courts when there are allegations against them? Would the ODM chief not be happy to have a court of law clear him and stop people having these doubts about him. There were, it is true, other politicians recommended for investigation in the Ndung'u report including the PNU's George Saitoti and Njenga Karume, and ODM's William Ntimama. But so vociferous were the protestations from the ODM presidential candidate that KNHRC boss Maina Kiai was moved to implore the Lang'ata MP to let the law prevail and have the courts prove his innocence. And the Molasses plant deal was not as minor as has sometimes been depicted. So far reaching were the effects of the scam that one of the biggest Kenyan banks, the Kenya Commercial Bank, lost up to 1 billion shillings.

I expect that it will be said that there are politicans on the NARC side with greater shame hanging over them. Foremost among this is likely to be the former President Moi. But even these the Langata MP is partly responsible for reintroduction to the public sphere. Following the election, the former President was a pariah, ostracised in all quarters of goverment. Until that is, the intervention of Raila Odinga. Or in his own words to a large rally in the Rift Valley:

"I came to Moi's aid when the Government wanted to take away his houses and sue him over Goldenberg during my days as the Minister for Roads. Moi should be grateful. I organized his first meeting with Kibaki at State House. He should thank me by not attacking ODM unfairly"

The ODM candidate also claimed that soon after taking office, President Kibaki's government had wanted to sue Moi over the Goldenberg scandal and even throw him out of his Kabarnet Gardens residence but that he objected.

the old man and I

"I was censured at the Cabinet meeting for fiercely defending Moi but as then Minister for Public Works, I said Moi still deserved to retain his Kabarnet Gardens home," he said.

So Raila did not only object, but he fiercely resisted attempts to hold the former President to account for the excesses of his regime. His proposals that he will seek to restitute to the public the gains of corruption are thus unlikely to be at all sincere.

So we see that there is not a difference between ODM and PNU in their approach to corruption. ODM must adopt for themselves a new campaign platform since they have not the moral authority to talk about recovering the loot from the former regime when they have not handed themselves handed back to us what they stole.

It is truly tragic to our prospects for fairer government that Kenyan politicians would have us believe that their wrongs can be forgotten simply because they are not currently serving in government. President Kibaki has been accused of associating with Moi for political gain. But is this not the same reason for which the hero of the moment Musalia Mudavadi lost his Sabatia seat, sticking to President Moi at election time? It is truly strange to hear him now accuse Moi of running down the country while he sat high up in his government and watched over Goldenberg as Finance Minister. Similarly, in the aftermath of the 1997 election, as the opposition alleged widespread rigging, the Raila Odinga-led NDP saw fit to lend succour to Moi's government and strengthen its grip on Kenya's politics.

It is important that as we go to the election, we remember that there are many in ODM with very tainted pasts, which pasts include both collusion in the Moi government's worst crimes and the most egregious abuse of public office for personal gain. These pasts cannot be wished away simply because "Kenyans want change". If change means that likes of William Ruto, Musalia Mudavadi, Henry Kosgey, William Ntimama, Raila Odinga and many other MPs are allowed to con Kenyans into letting them have another turn at public wealth, who always reinvent themselves every time there is an opportunity, then Kenya does not need change just for the sake of it. Kenya needs meaningful change. An ODM government would be a case of exit the dragon, enter the dragon.