Justice for David Munyakei

Time to Do The Right Thing:

REINSTATE David Munyakei


Dr. Andrew Mullei
Governor
Central Bank of Kenya
Haile Selassie Avenue,
P.O Box 60000, Nairobi,
Kenya
E-Mail:[email protected]
Tel: +254 (020) 226431

Dear Governor:

As you are well aware, David Munyakei was an employed by the Central Bank as a clerk when he performed one of the most courageous acts in contemporary Kenyan history:

He blew the whistle on what we now know to be Kenyas biggest corruption scam- the Goldenberg Scandal.

It was 1994 and Mr Munyakei was a clerk at the Central Bank responsible for raising vouchers. In the course of his work he noticed a number on a particular form issued by the Central Bank of Kenya. He found out that a company called Goldenberg International was receiving unusually large sums of money for the alleged export of gold and diamonds. His investigations revealed that this scam had led to the loss of at least 24 billion Kenya shillings (approximately $ 295 million).

In an act of patriotism and integrity, he managed to place this concrete evidence into the hands of two members of parliament. But this was only after hitting a wall of silence and indifference when he approached his bosses with his discovery of the irregular transactions. In his own words:

"After raising my suspicions with my bosses without any action, I decided to sneak out the documents and seek help elsewhere," he said. "I knew I was risking my life, but I did not understand that I was up against the government itself."

Indeed as the Goldenberg Inquiry has so far revealed this notorious scandal embroiled everybody from former President Daniel arap Moi, to his deputy, Prof. George Saitoti (still serving as a cabinet minister in the present Kenyan government) and many senior officials.

So how was David Munyakei rewarded for his courageous whistle-blowing?

By being arrested, harassed and fired.

And he still remains unemployed after ten long years.

Meanwhile most of the leading figures in the Goldenberg scandal are still scot free while Munyakeis life dangles at the edges of poverty.

Justice for David Munyakei is long overdue.

Recently Transparency International recognized him, along with the other whistle blower Constable Naftali Lagat with an Integrity Award for the year 2004.

Governor, it is time for the Central Bank to redress the injustice that has been perpetrated against David Munyakei for the last ten years.

At the VERY LEAST, please give him his old job back so that he can earn a living.

We think he deserves more than that:

He should also be compensated for wrongful termination and loss of income for all those years he has remained unemployed.

Surely Kenyan men and women of integrity deserve better treatment than the shoddy show meted out to David Munyakei.

Governor Andrew Mullei we hope you will listen to the pleas of the signers of this petition and reinstate David Munyakei to his rightful place as an employee of the Central Bank of Kenya.