Martin Dee / CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for the archive. Image credits.
John Githongo
Anti-corruption advocate
He exposed how public money could be diverted behind official assurances.
- Theme
- Conscience
John Githongo became internationally known for exposing the Anglo Leasing scandal after serving in government on anti-corruption work. His disclosures helped bring detailed allegations about public procurement and political responsibility into the public domain.
He continued to write and organise around accountable government. His story raises enduring questions about whistleblowing, the protection of public resources and the personal costs of challenging powerful interests.
Life and work
John Gìthongo (born 1965) is a former Kenyan journalist who investigated bribery and fraud in Kenya and later, under the presidency of Mwai Kibaki, took on an official governmental position to fight corruption. In 2005 he left that position, later accusing top ministers of large-scale fraud. In the Anglo-leasing corruption which he blew the lid over, fraudulent deliveries of government military and forensic laboratory equipment were allegedly ordered, "delivered" and the payment completed in the former president Uhuru Kenyatta's tenure. The story of his fight against corruption is told in Michela Wrong's book It's Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistle-Blower.
Gìthongo's father Joe Gìthongo owned an accounting firm, President Jomo Kenyatta being one of its clients. John Gìthongo went to the prestigious St. Mary's School in Nairobi. He studied Economics and Philosophy at the University of Wales before returning to his native Kenya. He briefly worked as a management consultant and researcher before moving into journalism. In this role he wrote extensively for the Nairobi-based EastAfrican and Executive magazine, attacking corruption throughout Kenyan society under the Moi regime. He was also a correspondent for the British journal The Economist and wrote for a range of local and international papers as well. In the 1990s he received the CNN African Journalist of the year award (third prize).
Following in his father's footsteps he joined the Transparency International movement. He founded and served as founder-Executive Director of the Kenyan chapter of Transparency International in 1999 after years of the government refusing its registration. He also served a board member of Transparency International in Berlin.
In 1998, political scientist Mutahi Ngunyi's NGO – Series for Alternative Research in East Africa (SAREAT) funded by the Ford Foundation, engaged Gìthongo to edit a regional political economy magazine, East African Alternatives. The magazine folded after operating four issues. This was as a result of audit queries made by Price Waterhouse, and subsequent commercial court action brought against Ngunyi by the Ford Foundation with Mr. Githongo as a witness on behalf of the prosecution having revealed to Ford the initial problems that led to the audit in the first place. A case was instituted against SAREAT trustees by its donors but was apparently later withdrawn after SAREAT agreed to repay the funds under contention.
In January 2003 he was appointed to the position of Permanent Secretary for Governance and Ethics by the incoming president Kibaki, who had been elected on an anti-corruption platform. He resigned from his position on 7 February 2005 without comment, though it was reported that he felt the government lacked commitment to ending corruption and that he had received death threats, a common occurrence in Kenyan public office holding. As a result of his resignation international aid to Kenya was cut. He remains a powerful advocate against corruption.
On 22 January 2006, Gìthongo named vice-president Moody Awori as one of four top politicians with Kiraitu Murungi, former justice minister and then energy minister; finance minister David Mwiraria and former transport minister Chris Murungaru as being involved in scams worth $600M – known as the Anglo Leasing Scandal. He also claimed that President Kibaki was complicit in the affair. The scandal centered on the award of a huge contract given to Anglo-Leasing – a company that did not exist. Githongo claimed that the money raised would have funded the government's forthcoming election campaign. These allegations were denied by Awori and Murungaru and an investigation was to be done on the matter.
Gìthongo moved to the UK to live in exile after claiming that there have been threats to his life. A secret cable by the US ambassador in Kenya to Washington dated 16/9/09, released by Wikileaks, made clear the extent of these threats. In one section the ambassador wrote –
This section adapts selected passages from John Githongo by Wikipedia contributors. It is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected passages; pronunciation guides, lists and reference markers omitted; punctuation and paragraph breaks adjusted. Photographs have separate licences.
