Kenya - interview

Odinga admits country is corrupt

Article published on the 2008-10-08 Latest update 2008-10-09 12:19 TU

Raila Odinga addresses a plenary session during the 1st World Policy Conference in Evian
(Photo: Reuters)

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga admits that corruption is endemic in his country and says that he is managing to work with President Mwai Kibaki, although their coalition is no "love affair". Speaking to RFI's Farida Ayari at the World Policy Conference in the southern French town of Evian, Odinga repeated a call for an amnesty for those involved in violence after last year's election.

Odinga described the current Kenyan coalition as "not really a love affair" but rather "a matter of necessity", but he insisted he and President Mwai Kibaki are working very well together.

Anti-corruption campaigners Transparency International rate Kenya the most corrupt country in east Africa.

"I don't want to disagree with that assessment," is Odinga's frank response and he identified the worst-affected areas as the police force and other parts of the security sector.

"Security regulations do not allow complete transparency in the vetting of security-related contracts", he added.

Odinga defended his call for an amnesty for the hundreds of people arrested during post-election violence in Kenya in December and January last.

"The majority of people who just protested and demonstrated, we have said, should be released."

He rejected the idea that all those covered by the amnesty had been involved in violence, saying that much of the violence had been provoked by excessive police force.

"The police officers were instructed to shoot to kill and the police, of course, unleashed a lot of violence against the people"

Over 300,000 people fled from their homes in an attempt to avoid tribe-based killings.

Camps for displaced people are due to close but Odinga says "the majority of the 350,000 people have already been resettled", leaving a  core of people, about 20,000, still in camps.

Some of those who had left their homes are refusing to return home because they fear retribution for their involvment in violence, Odinga claims. The Kenyan government is to give the remaining people about 250 euros to resettle in new areas.

Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement wants the recommendations of the Krieger report on the violence implemented in full.

"Already two bills have been published. One is called the Constitution of Kenya Ammendment Bill. The other one is called the Constitution of Kenya Reveiw Bill. These two bills are meant to midwife the new constitution for the country."

He said land reform was also underway, with two documents awaiting parliamentary approval.

Kenya's Prime Minister had a grim warning on the current world financial crisis. It is "a tragedy in the making" and said Kenya would be adversely affected because of global markets.

"Kenyan banks are interconnected with European banks and by extension the American banks," he said, pointing out that Kenya's position as a net exporter leaves it vulnerable to fluctuations in exchange rates.