Kenyan Diaspora Politician to be in Boston December 15th 2012

Miguna Miguna is headed to Boston so Kenyans abroad have a chance to read his book. As a Kenyan who spent almost two decades in Canada and then went back to serve Kenya and was a key member of the coalition and government, Boston Kenyans will be eager to know more of his experience and what ails Kenya. We had a chance to ask Isaac Newton Kinity who recently attended the World Corruption Conference held at Brazil on what we should expect from Miguna during his visit, corruption and Diaspora voting among other issues. Your recently attended the World Corruption conference at Brazil. Which is the worst type of corruption? Where is Kenya ranked by this organization in corruption out of the 185 world countries? There’s no good or comfortable corruption. Although all types of corruption have negative effects on human beings, corruption whose result is the death of innocent beings would be considered the worst type of corruption. According to Transparency International list of least corrupt nations in the World, Kenya ranks 154 in a number of 184 Nations which means Kenya is number 30 among the most corrupt Nations. You are currently facilitating the process of Miguna Miguna tour to U.S. How do you consider Miguna Miguna, corrupt, silent observer of corruption or anti-corruption advocate? From my own knowledge of Mr. Miguna Miguna from the days of his struggle to help Kenyans in the 90s, he is one of the few Kenyans who ever sacrificed themselves for a genuine course. In the 90s, he was in a group of other Kenyans who suffered a lot in the hands of the Moi regime while trying to transform the nation. He has been vocal on anti-corruption for most of his life. Based on reading Miguna Miguna book or extracts reported by the Media and further with reference to the points discussed in the world corruption conference, is the Prime Minister Raila Odinga corrupt? Personally, I do not have any evidence to relate the Prime Minister Raila Odinga with any particular corruption, but going by what has happened around him in certain occasions, there are many questions as to how clean the Prime Minister is. As recent as October 2011, his office was accused by the World Bank after billions of Kenya shillings earmarked for the Kenyan youth, disappeared in his office. There are also allegations that Spectra Kenya, a company the Prime Minister has interest in, was engaged in a shoddy deal which saw the disappearance of the Molasses plant in Kisumu, from the hands of the public. On May 18th 2012 Nation newspaper published an article, “Why Kenyan Election is world’s most expensive?” with statements like: “Elections in Kenya are the most expensive in the world thanks to a high voter registration cost, administrative inefficiencies and outright theft. Estimates for the upcoming election presented by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) placing the cost at Sh36 billion translates to a cost per registered voter of Sh2,000 ($25), higher than any other on record. Chile Sh103 ($1.2), Costa Rica Sh154 ($ 1.8) and Brazil Sh197 ($2.3) in Latin America and Sh60 ($0.7) in Ghana.” Would you call this “Outright Theft,” and is this a form of corruption? Corruption in Kenya has permeated all sectors in Kenya. Corruption is the cause of the high cost of Elections in Kenya. The figure provided as the cost of Elections is total corruption and theft of public funds. You ran 2007 for Kenya Elections. Will you be running this time around? What would you tell an interested candidate? Honestly speaking, I had set myself ready for the December 2012 Elections. The March 4th 2013 elections date took me by surprise and obstructed my plans. I am already late for an aggressive and a successful campaign. It takes time to organize. My advice to any interested candidate is to fold sleeves and go for it. If you do not go for it someone else will go. Why not you? What would you advise Kenyans afraid to go register so they can be part of voting based on life struggles and experiences? For certain unexplained reasons, the Kenya Government has failed to honor its promise of registering Kenyans living abroad. If and when the Kenya Government start registering Kenyans living abroad, Kenyans should register in great numbers.