Sleaze crisis in Kenya prompts withdrawal of US funding

THE United States yesterday announced it was suspending its funding of Kenya’s anti- corruption measures, amid a mounting sleaze crisis in the country.

The British government said it was also reviewing contributions, following the resignation of Kenya’s leading anti-corruption official.

The announcement is the latest setback for the government of Mwai Kibaki as he attempts to roll back 24 years of rampant sleaze under the former regime of Daniel Arap Moi.

His most senior corruption fighter, John Githongo, resigned on Monday amid mounting international criticism that Kenya was dragging its feet on reform.

Yesterday, William Bellamy, the US ambassador to Kenya, told a business conference that his government would withhold about $2.5m during the next two years.

A further $7m of funding is also under threat, he said, unless Mr Kibaki was able to prove his determination to root out graft.

"We are eager to work with Kenya to improve governance, and we are in a position to be generous in this regard," he said. "But we cannot be helpful when all the evidence suggests that government isn’t serious or, worse, that government is the source of the problem."

Two years after Mr Kibaki’s election, the country remains close to the top of international sleaze league tables. The British Ambassador, Sir Edward Clay, reignited the row over corruption last week when he launched an attack on the Kibaki government’s progress so far.