Stephen Mburu
13 July 2008
Nairobi — As a medical doctor, Ikolomani MP Bonny Khalwale is guided by the Hippocratic oath that dictates he should do everything possible to save human life.
But, as a politician, if the woes that led to last week's resignation of Finance minister Amos Kimunya are anything to go by, it seems the doctor is motivated by another principle: not to spare political lives of those suspected of questionable dealings.
Motion of censure
Dr Khalwale dressed Mr Kimunya down during a motion of censure in Parliament over the Grand Regency Hotel sale saga.
Mr Kimunya told Parliament that his hands were "clean." The motion was passed and MPs began pressuring the minister to resign, something he did not take kindly.
The minister went to his Kipipiri constituency last Sunday where he announced, to wild cheers from his supporters, that he would rather die than resign. Two days later, he announced that he had decided to "step aside" to allow investigations into the allegations of impropriety in the sale of Grand Regency hotel and clear his name.
Now, with Mr Kimunya out of the Cabinet, Dr Khalwale is a hero to many. But the New Ford Kenya chairman, who referred to himself as a "humble bullfighter," said the censure motion did not make him a hero. In fact, he has apologies.
"I really apologise to the people of Kipipiri, and the Kikuyu community. There was nothing personal. I would have done the same to a person from my (Luhya) community and even my own cousin," he told the Sunday Nation in an interview at Parliament Buildings a day after Mr Kimunya resigned.
Best brother
"Corruption denies people opportunities to get what they deserve. Of what use is a brother or tribesman who denies you an opportunity and what you deserve? Your best brother or tribesman is the one who lifts you up the ladder with him not the one who uses and ditches you when it suits him. Until we become blind to our blood lines, it will be very difficult to fight corruption."
Dr Khalwale said he was not motivated by anything but the desire to fight corruption.
"Corruption is the reason why most, if not all, Africa governments have failed. Kenyans should know the Grand Regency issue is just a tip of the iceberg. Beneath the sea level are the IPOs, the Safaricom (IPO), privatisation of Telkom Kenya, and printing of currency notes.
"I think of the Kenyan roads and the Sh2.9 billion the minister was talking about as petty cash. The money is enough to do 100 km of tarmac roads in the rural areas," he said.
He said his other motivation to fight corruption was derived from lack of anti-malaria drugs and syringes in health institutions countrywide. "Poor children die of malaria because of lack or drugs. Corruption is behind this problem. Some of us should stand and be counted on this issue."
He said he had been under pressure to drop the motion against Mr Kimunya but he did not give any names. He said the winner in the Grand Regency saga is Parliament for living up to people's expectations.
"If the minister had not resigned, Parliament would have been seen as toothless, and not deserving the money it is allocated in the budget.
Grand opposition
Critics have argued that by bringing such a motion against Mr Kimunya, the aim of Dr Khalwale and other key proponents of a grand opposition in Parliament was to humiliate the government simply because they are not in the Cabinet.
But Dr Khalwale, who chairs the watchdog Public Accounts Committee - which was previously chaired by Mr Uhuru Kenyatta - said he and his colleagues were only interested in fighting corruption.
The MP was not known to be vocal against high-level corruption during his time in the Ninth Parliament when he served as Assistant Minister for East African and Regional Cooperation. So why the radical transformation?
"It must be understood that in the Ninth Parliament, I was having a government responsibility. There were issues I would have talked about, but I was bound by that office. But in the 10th Parliament, being the chairman of the most potent committee, I am supposed to be responsive and responsible. Uhuru Kenyatta had his own style. This is my own style of doing things in this office," he said.
On how he gathered the Kimunya dossier, Dr Khalwale said: "I have my finger on the pulse of the nation through the public. The public is today well informed. I have had opportunity to visit other countries in Africa. Kenyans are more alive to their rights, to the roles of their leaders, to issues of good governance, and to players in corruption."
The MP said Kenyans had come face to face with corruption during previous regimes when the vice was practised openly. "It is upon us to lead by example. People expect us to be clean."
Dr Khalwale promised to expose a lot on corruption in public institutions involving senior public figures.
He said he has access to documents associated with corrupt deals. But he would not discuss them, saying he was bound by parliamentary orders.
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