LGI News: Ministry Accepts TI Graft Rating

By Alex Ndegwa of EA Standard (August 27, 2007)

"The Ministry of Local Government has accepted Transparency International (K) Bribery Index verdict that ranked it fifth most corrupt institution.

Minister Mr Musikari Kombo on Monday led top ministry officials in a meeting with TI researcher, Mr David Ndii, to review the damning report, which saw the ministry in charge of local authorities blacklisted in the index for the first time in six years.

Kombo said they had chosen to consult with TI over the corruption allegations instead of burying their heads in the sand.

The minister blamed the ministry’s fall to the Africities Summit, which the country hosted last year, and the ongoing construction of markets in major urban centres, saying the two events provided good avenues for graft.

Kombo conceded that preparations for the Africities summit were riddled in corruption, particularly the procurement of goods and services and hiring of personnel.

"We have realised there are areas that needed to be handled properly in hosting the conference, especially on procurement and employment," Kombo told a news conference at the ministry’s headquarters in Nairobi.

He announced the creation of an Ethics Committee to monitor service delivery in all departments to ensure zero tolerance to corruption.

The fourth edition of the Africities Summit – a gathering of key officials of Local Governments in the continent – was held in Nairobi last September, and the ministry was tasked with organising the event.

More than 3,000 delegates from 80 countries across the world, including about 30 African ministers and more than 1,000 mayors, attended the week-long event.

On Monday, Kombo said conmen were also soiling the ministry’s name by exploiting the ongoing construction of multi-million shillings modern markets for hawkers to fleece unsuspecting business operators under the pretext that they would allocate them stalls.

"People are being duped by conmen. I urge the public to be alert," he said.

The minister said the meeting with the TI official had exposed the ministry’s areas of weaknesses."