The ghost of the multi-billion-shilling Goldenberg scandal could come back to hound its masterminds after Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji pledged to reopen the case.
In an unprecedented move, Haji announced that he would instigate fresh probe into the scam, in which a fifth of the country’s GDP at the time was skimmed from Central Bank through businessman Kamlesh Pattni’s Exchange Bank in 1991.
More than Sh85 billion was lost in the scandal. Haji’s bid to pursue the architects of what is considered Kenya’s biggest, most perplexing and elusive corruption saga comes even as he decried the graft menace had hit untenable levels.
“Let us be honest. It is beyond theft, it is beyond corruption. It is stealing from oneself,” he told journalists during a meeting organised by the Editors Guild.
Haji revealed that between April 2018 and January, this year, corruption cases relating to Sh16.18 billion have been prosecuted.
He also said his office has formed synergies with other State agencies to pursue possible leads that will help the government recover the looted assets.
At the same time, the DPP vowed to crackdown on any corrupt individual regardless of their position in government. “No one is immune from prosecution irrespective of their position in power,” he asserted.
His remarks come on the heels of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s recent vow to rein in corrupt elements in his administration irrespective of their relationship with him.
“If you are corrupt we will fight you. You can be my brother or my sister or my closest political ally, but if you are corrupt we will fight you,” he told Kenyans living in Namibia.
Yesterday, Noordin promised to re-examine past graft cases where suspected masterminds have been acquitted or avoided prosecution despite glaring evidence implicating them in graft scandals.
Other cases Haji is set to review include Anglo Leasing and the National Youth Service (NYS) saga, where Sh731 million was lost.