YOUR REMARKS IN BAD TASTE, INJURIOUS TO KENYA/US BILATERAL RELATIONS
Mr. Senator,

1. I hereby wish to communicate to you the displeasure and disappointment of the Government of Kenya, the Kenya Embassy, Washington D.C. and the majority of Kenyans with regards to your recent utterances while in Kenya. Your unprovoked and uncalled for statements were in bad taste, particularly given that your visit was very well arranged in advance with full briefings given to your office in Washington D.C. by the Kenya Embassy. And, rather than nurture and strengthen the existing cordial and mutually beneficial relations between USA and Kenya, your wild accusations - that corruption and tribalism have reached a crisis point in Kenya - could only poison and injure our relations.

2. You deliberately and without real cause or reason, other than what appears to be cheap publicity and inconsequential populism, chose to publicly attack the democratically elected Government of Kenya. This was in total disregard for the requisite protocol and acceptable methods of addressing the issues you raised, what with programmed appointments to meet Cabinet Ministers and even the Head of State, since your visit was official.

3. Mr. Senator, while Kenya genuinely appreciates the support we have received from the US Government in restoring our institutions of public governance, and the rule of law which had eroded over a long period of time, and while we look forward to more bilateral engagements with US government officials, Senators like yourself, Congressmen and women and other US citizens, we hope that these engagements will be conducted in a more civil and mutually respectable manner.

4. Mr. Senator, may I also draw your attention to the ridicule you unnecessarily incurred by openly contradicting yourself by, on the one hand, appreciating Kenya as a beacon of peace and stability, with regular democratic elections, while on the other accusing Kenyans of tribalism and sectarian divisions. The two, Mr. Senator, obviously do not go hand in hand. Kenya would not have made the major strides nor registered impressive accomplishments if we were under the dead weight of ethnicity and tribal conflicts. To disregard Kenya's rich and diverse heritage and wonderful social mosaic and linguistic tapestry, is, I am afraid, a total lack of knowledge of Kenya's reality today.

5. We as Kenyans, therefore, take great exception to being lectured by you sir on the merits and demerits of corruption or even what to do about it; it smacks of reckless bigotry for you to proclaim that we have lost the war against corruption. Rather than appreciate and even encourage the gallant and heroic efforts that our Government and Kenyans have put in dismantling the deeply embedded networks and chains of corruption, you carelessly, in a manner akin to political activism, chose to trash and sneer at us in the face.

6. Mr. Senator, your remarks lamentably demonstrate a naïve understanding of the challenges of skillfully managing a political transition with weak and nascent institutions of public governance, while maintaining a delicate balance, especially in an ethnically diverse country like Kenya, and also show how ridiculous it is to perfunctorily dabble in a terrain you are not familiar with.


7. I wish to state here that fighting corruption is a process and the Kenya Government under President Kibaki, had long embarked on the war path. Among the actions the Government has taken to combat corruption include the establishment of necessary institutions for public education and judicial action against perpetrators of corruption. Those newly created institutions are as follows:

• The Cabinet Committee on Anti-Corruption.
• The Anti-Corruption and Economic Act 2003.
• Public Officers Ethics Act 2003.
• The Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission Advisory Board, which became fully operation in January 2004, and fast tracks the fight against corruption.
• The National Anti-Corruption Campaign Steering Committee launched by the President, comprising representatives from the Government, statutory commissions, public institutions, the private sector, civil society, national media associations, women's interest groups and religious organizations to spearhead a national five-year campaign against corruption.
• Strengthening Public Accounts Committee.
• Efficiency Monitoring Unit within the Central Bank of Kenya.
• The State law Officer/Department of Public Prosecution (Anti-Corruption, Serious Fraud and Asset Forfeiture Unit).
• Judicial/Special Anti-Corruption Courts.
• Judicial Commission into the Goldenberg Affair.
• The Judicial Commission of Inquiry on illegal and irregular allocation of public land (The Ndungu Commission).
• The Land Titles Tribunal.
• Cabinet Committee on Pending Bills and a sub-committee on "Closing Bills.”
• Asset tracing and Recovery Committee.
• The Task Force on "Harambees," and Civil Service and Judicial Reforms.

8. Your recent grandstanding posture against the four year-old Government of Kenya as a desperate captive of corruption, therefore does not go down well with the majority of Kenyans, who are now more vigilant, intolerant and vocal against signs and acts of corruption than ever before. Kenyans are positive that although there are still few pockets of the vice lingering on here and there, they are confident that we are on course and that the end of the era of grand corruption is nigh.

9. The problem of fighting corruption within the framework of weak institutions, as you might realize Mr. Senator, is not a simple quick fix. It is a complex puzzle to fight a systemic vice with tentacles spread internationally. Most of the cases of corruption being dealt with by the current government originated during the period of the former administration and include the monumental Goldenberg and Anglo-Leasing scandals, which have strong foreign and fraudulent networks. As a matter of fact, the Western business community and some foreign governments stand accused of offering our officials and politicians bribes to secure lucrative contracts and have recently been uncooperative with our investigators.

10. I have to remind you Mr. Senator, that the Government of Kenya has told both the diplomatic and donor community to their faces that much as we appreciate their concern and assistance on the issue of corruption, the Government and the people of Kenya have embarked in earnest on anti-corruption measures not just to please the international community but because it is the right thing to do, and we do it for the benefit of Kenyans. It has, after all, always been a popular Kenyan desire to have a democratic Government free of corruption and other public ills and for over 40 years Kenyans have been waging relentless wars against corruption and abuse of office. This battle against corruption has been waged by Kenyans first and foremost for our own good, occasionally with the support of a few genuine international friends.

11. Finally, I am happy to note, and appreciate your admission during your interview with the Nation Media Group, that "I am here to better understand what's been happening in Kenya to try to create better links” and I hope that you will find it prudent during your tenure as a Senator to intensify our engagements for regular updates on developments in Kenya and build on the already existing warm bilateral relations between our two countries.

PETER N.R.O. OGEGO
AMBASSADOR-DESIGNATE
August 31st, 2006