Kenya’s embattled anti-corruption chief resigns

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya’s anti-corruption chief resigned Wednesday following weeks of public protest and a parliamentary vote against his reappointment.

Aaron Ringera said he and a deputy director stepped down because their reappointment by President Mwai Kibaki in August had “raised a national storm.”

“We have given the fight against corruption our all, we could not have done better,” Ringera said.

Kibaki’s reappointment of Ringera and two deputy directors drew public anger because ordinary Kenyans, anti-graft activists, religious leaders and diplomats doubted whether Ringera could effectively fight graft as director of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission.

Critics said the commission has not successfully concluded one case of high level corruption, something Ringera blamed on the commission’s lack of powers to prosecute.

Another deputy director of the commission already resigned earlier this month. The law that set up the commission required all three to be appointed at the same time.

Parliament voted against the reappointment on Sept. 16, setting the stage for a showdown with the president that was diffused by Wednesday’s resignations.

But anti-graft activist Mwalimu Mati said Wednesday’s resignations do not make it easier for the commission to fight corruption.

“The anti-corruption commission is a very weak institution, in a very corrupt environment and where there is impunity,” Mati said. “I don’t see anything changing in this situation, barring changes in the law” to give the commission greater powers.

When Kibaki was first elected president in 2003, ordinary Kenyans took to heart his call to fight corruption from the top, arresting policemen demanding bribes from motorists. Over time, however, his administration became mired in scandals.

The coalition government he leads since his controversial re-election in 2007 also has been dogged by allegations of high-level corruption.