Book Review: It’s Our Turn to Eat: A Story of Kenyan Whistle Blower

[Marafiki wa Vitabu]

Book Review by Adam Jackson Foya.
Title: It’s Our Turn to Eat: A Story of Kenyan Whistle Blower
Author: Michela Wrong.
Publisher: Fourth Estate, UK
Pages:354.
Year of Publication: 2009.

In her book It’s Our Turn To Eat, Michela Wrong explores the political
history of corruption in Kenya including the multifaceted features of
ethnic (tribal) division. Wrong delivers vivid, raw details about
mechanism of corruption in goverment. Her restrained use of
embellishments make for a candid, insightful read. Wrong tells the
story of John Githongo, a former head of anti-corruption in Kenya, who
turns out to be a whistle blower and one of Africa’s success stories
in fighting corruption. .

The book gives a primer on tribalism in Kenya, and sparingly provides
the reader with the necessary tedium to access the nuances that divide
one tribe from another. When a certain tribe is in power, it becomes
their “Turn to Eat’’. Wrong has done a good job in tracing change of
power and tribal division from pre to post colonialism. After Kenya’s
independence from Britain, Jomo Kenyatta, a Kikuyu became the first
president. During his presidency, Wrong uses Githong’s recounts to
describe how it was the Kikuyu’s “time to eat”. Kenyatta was followed
by ‘Professor of Politics’, Daniel Arap Moi, a Kalenjeen who was
president of Kenya for too long-more nearly for 30 years. The account
given shows all of the pertinent details relevant to decades of
corruption under Moi’s leadership, and methodically calculates the
audacious and absurd indulgences of his (the Kalenjeen’s)
administration. It was indeed the Kalenjeen’s time to eat, and Wrong
gives a matter of fact account of how they feasted at the expense of
Western investers and ultimately of the Kenyan people.

In 2002, Kibaki with the Kikuyu-led NARC government came into power,
with high promises and people expectations that “corruption will cease
to be a way of life in Kenya”. It did not took longer before the same
government was involved in procurement scandal of $ 751 million,
involving Anglo Leasing and Finance Ltd which remain to be a ‘ghost
firm’. Tanzanian readers may be interested to find out how Richmond
scandal is almost ‘copy and paste’ of Anglo Leasing ghost company. On
his appointment Githongo was very optimistic with the regime and hoped
for better change. He made it very clear to the President: “we can set
up all the anti-corruption authorities we want, spend all the money we
want, pass all the laws on anticorruption, but it all depends on you.
If people believe the president is ‘eating’, the battle is lost. If
you are steady on this thing, if the leadership is there, we will
succeed.”It was not too long that, he came to realise those who he
trusted were now involved in the scandals and even the President was
also ‘eating’. Evidence from the network of informant whom he had to
setup was implicating ministers, Permanent Secretaries, famous
business people and probably the President. All these evidences
secretly collected, like voice recording and documents from the
network of informant in his payroll, were his insurance and base for
blowing the whistle.



The book shows the systematic corruption which involves people on
power and business. For instance, Anglo Leasing which involved
eighteen contracts classified as ‘sensitive’, military – or security
in nature. They included among others; a digital multi-channel
communications network for prison service, new helicopters, a building
a forensic laboratory, state-of-the-art frigate, a top-secret military
surveillance dubbed ‘Project Nexus’. The value for 18 contracts
amounted to 5% of gross domestic product, over 16% of the government’s
gross expenditure in 2003-04 and the money was outstripping the
country’s total aid ($521) and were enough to supply every HIV-
positive Kenyan with anti-retroviral for the next ten years.

The role of development partner in corruption is well demonstrated in
the book. It reminded what Martin Luther King Jr. once said: “In the
end, we will remember not the words of our enemy, but the silence of
our friends”. Four days after John Githongo released his dossier,
World Bank announced $145 million loans to Kenya. The same was done by
DfID Britain’s Department for International Development, when
announced a £ 58 million grant few days before John’s leak. Its only
IMF which refused to follow the schedule of lending and it was only
Netherlands which stopped aid in grounds of corruption. The most
vocal ‘friend’ who Kenyans will remember the most is Sir Edward Clay,
British High Commissioner to Kenya from 2001-05. In one of his
speeches against corruption, he aptly said: “Those in government were
now eating ‘like gluttons’ out of combination of arrogance, greed and
panic. They may expect we shall not see, or notice, or will forgive
them a bit of gluttons, but they can hardly expect us not to care when
their gluttony causes them to vomit all over our shoes”.


From the book, one can see some similarities between Kenya and
Tanzania. Systematic corruption, where dubious high value contracts
with ‘ghost’ and dubious companies are signed by the government to
siphon public funds. For instance, corruption scandal at Bank of
Tanzania (BoT). Where several ‘ghost’ companies were paid large sum of
public money under External Payment Arrears (EPA). Disappointingly
funds from EPA and Anglo Leasing are alleged to have been used to
finance elections.


But are whistle blowers enough to fight corruption in Africa? Yes we
need whistle blower, but what we need the most as the author is
quoting Hussein Were: “You don’t need any more bodies, you don’t need
more laws, you need good people and the will”. Lack of political will
to remains to be the challenge in fighting corruption in African
countries. A need for good people who have political will to establish
institution and take actions against corruption and not just paying
some lips services. Moreover we need informed citizens to hold the
government accountable on public funds.