Monthly Archives: April 2005

From Africa-Confidential.com

KENYA: Biwott is back again

Three anti-corruption campaigners have left the scene as Total Man returns – The drive against corruption has run out of steam. President Mwai Kibaki’s National Rainbow Coalition was elected in January 2003 on a straightforward anti-corruption platform. Today, independent analysts estimate corruption has reached the levels of the preceding government under Daniel arap Moi. Now Kibaki is regularly seen alongside the central figure in the government he defeated, Nicholas Kipyator Biwott. Investigation of the multimillion dollar Goldenberg export subsidy scandal, in which witnesses accused Biwott of playing a leading role, has been shelved indefinitely.

BANKS

Banking bust-up
Egypt wants its own man to run an all-Africa bank but everyone else is angry. Leadership in Africa is an old Egyptian dream. It looks a lot less solid since President Hosni Mubarak’s government expelled Jean-Louis Ekra, the new Ivorian president of Afreximbank, a multilateral African trade bank based in Cairo. Ekra is temporarily running Afreximbank from London; Egypt has written to its correspondent banks there, urging them not to follow Ekra’s instructions. The Bank’s board threatens to move it to another African state and wants the Egyptian government both to rescind the expulsion order on Ekra and to reverse instructions from the Central Bank of Egypt that two state-owned banks must default on loans worth US$40 million.

Race for the presidency
The race to choose a new president for the African Development Bank is becoming increasingly bitter and political ahead of its annual meeting, due in Abuja, Nigeria, on 17-19 May. With the African Union now negotiating peace treaties and running peacekeeping operations and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NePAD) managing development projects and recruiting investors, there is a much bigger role for the ADB.

Weekend Wrap

Non-performers
This week our Members of Parliament were ranked by a lobby group and came out as having performed very poorly. Even though they condemned the survey, most Kenyans feel the results are true – but all want to get a ticket of their own to Parliament next time round.

MP for Hire?
The top ranked MP in the survey, Kitutu Chache MP Jimmy Angwenyi was caught on Nation TV in a highly suspicious tea break with disgraced officials of the Ministry of Health causing him not to ask a sensitive question in Parliament. Last week he kept lobbing soft balls until Information Minister Raphael Tuju to hit a home run against Econet Wireless.

Transparency International moves on
On Friday April 29th, TI advertised the vacant post of executive director. Applicants must be Kenyans citizens of integrity who can demonstrate project development, fund-raising, local & international interface skills as well as recruit, manage and motivate other TI staff. Apply to recruit@adeptsystems.co.ke by 13th May.

Plant A Tree
Today (Friday) is national tree planting – unfortunately, no one noticed and Kenya’s forests are being rapidly depleted. Since the entire Nyayo era is being revived by Narc, I‘d like to encourage them to re-introduce Moi’s 1980 tree project of “kata moja, panda mbili” to encourage tree planting among rural communities who depend on firewood for fuel

Upcoming Debate
On Tuesday May 3rd (6.p.m) at the Stanly Hotel, the Media Council of Kenya has arranged a forum entitled “Is the media abusing freedom of the press?” Members of the public are invited to share their views with Standard Associate Editor Kwamchetsi Makokha and Public Communication Secretary, Dr. Alfred Mutua, among others.

Prosecutors scoring zero
As Tom Delamere entered the court system to be charged with murder, out walked three suspects who had been charged with killing Professor Mbai last year (yes they are innocent, but who are the real killers? Also walking out of jail this week was Ketan Somaia, following in the golden footsteps of Kamlesh Pattni who was acquited last month. And even as Kenyans this week discovered how rotten the National Aids Control Council was, former director Dr. Gachara is sitting at home, courtesy of a Presidential pardon last Jamhuri Day. With a high-powered legal team (led by Fred Ojiambo) already assembled against a Nakuru prosecutor, Delamare’s ordeal will be over in a few months.

Odds and Ends

In a rare settlement, the federal government has agreed to pay $87,500 to a woman from Kenya who was denied entry into the United States even though she says she expressed fears for her life in Kenya.

A380 Welcome in Nairobi


A380 Welcome in Nairobi: (Daily Nation Feb 3 2005) Managing Director of the Kenya Airports Authority, Mr. George Muhoho, said that Jomo Kenyatta Airport would be able to receive the new Airbus A380 giant double-decker aircraft in Nairobi when it begins operations.

He said, “a suitable passenger bridge has been identified, and lounges will be redesigned to accommodate departing passengers. Also the runway and taxiways will be strengthened and widened.

HFCK Boss Out

Peter Lewis Jones is out as Managing Director of Housing Finance Company of Kenya.

Earlier this month, the Nation reported that CBK wantd him out because HFCK was for violating Prudential regulation no. 10 which deals with provision for bad and doubtful loans and advances. HFCK has been making too little provisions as defined by CBK.

In their auditor’s letter at the end of 2003, KPMG made a point about future operations at HFCK noting that “a significant portion of their mortgage portfolio is non-performing, and low interest rates in the country have also lowered interest margins at HFCK. Also further growth is constrained by existing capital under the Bank Act and CBK act. The current licence does not allow for diversification, and the banks ability to make profits depends on recovery of non-performing assets.”

The bank was supposed to make efforts to comply with PR10 and consult with shareholders by December 2004. – and these efforts have not borne much fruit, which is why CBK has forced the MD out.

In 2004, net interest income fell to 900 milliom, down from 1.6 billion in 2003 (and 2.0 b in 2002). HFCK ended the year with a pre-tax profit of 98 m (down from 112m in 03). HFCK has a bad debt portfolio of 4 b, but they also have 5 b as realizable value of securities (i.e. if they re-possess and sell houses of people who have defaulted)