Criticism and corruption allegations

See also: Corruption in Kenya and Goldenberg scandal

In 1999 the findings of NGOs like Amnesty International[9]

and a special investigation by the

United Nations[10]

were published which indicated that human rights abuses were prevalent in

Kenya under the Moi regime.

Reporting on corruption and human rights abuses by British reporter Mary Anne Fitzgerald

from 198788 resulted only in her being vilified by the government and finally deported. Moi was implicated in the 1990s Goldenberg scandal and subsequent cover-ups, where the

Kenyan government subsidised exports of gold far in excess of the foreign currency earnings

of exporters. In this case, the gold was smuggled from Congo, as Kenya has negligible gold

reserves. The Goldenberg scandal cost Kenya the equivalent of more than 10% of the

country's annual GDP.

Half-hearted inquiries that began at the request of foreign aid donors never amounted to

anything substantial during Moi's presidency.[citation needed]

Although it appears that the

peaceful transfer of power to Mwai Kibaki may have involved an understanding that Moi

would not stand trial for offences committed during his presidency, foreign aid donors

reiterated their requests and Kibaki reopened the inquiry. As the inquiry has progressed, Moi,

his two sons, Philip and Gideon (now a member of Parliament), and his daughter June, as

well as a host of high-ranking Kenyans, have been implicated. In testimony delivered in late

July 2003, Treasury Permanent Secretary Joseph Magari recounted that in 1991, Moi ordered

him to pay Ksh34.5 million ($460,000) to Goldenberg, contrary to the laws then in force.[11]

In October 2006, Moi was found, by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment

Disputes, to have taken a bribe from a Pakistani businessman to award monopoly of duty-free

shops at the country's international airports in Mombasa and Nairobi. The businessman Ali

Nasir claimed to have paid Moi US$2 million in cash to obtain government approval for the

World Duty Free Limited investment in Kenya.[12]

On 31 August 2007, WikiLeaks published a secret report that laid bare a web of shell

companies, secret trusts and frontmen that his entourage used to funnel hundreds of millions

of pounds into nearly 30 countries.[13][14]