Former cab min Murungaru to appear in front of anti-corruption committee

(15 Feb 2006)
1. Wide shot, exterior of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Building Commission
2. Close up of sign
3. Various of Former Minister of National Security Chris Murungi, coming down the stairs
4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Chris Murungaru, Former Minister of National Security:
"What I have an issue and what is being mistaken for defiance or an unwillingness to be investigated, is the summons by the director of the Anti- Corruption Commission where I am being asked to investigate myself, where I am being asked to declare everything that I own or not, what is owned by my friends, what is owned by my relatives, what is owned by my business associates. Even you my friends can be able to see that that is such a generalised requirement, that it is impossible to answer that question accurately."
5. Cutaway
6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Paul Muite, Chris Murungaru's Lawyer:
"But you have a situation here where the director is saying, "I believe you are guilty of corruption, I believe you are guilty of economic crimes" and then proceeds to ask him to give information and evidence potentially incriminating to him. So that violates his constitutional right."
7. Close up of sermon from the Kenya Anti Corruption Commission
8. Exterior of Kenya Anti Corruption Building Commission building
9. Sign saying 'This is a corruption free zone'
STORYLINE:
Kenyan anti-corruption investigators questioned a former Cabinet minister in Nairobi on Wednesday, over a multimillion dollar scandal that has shaken the government of President Mwai Kibaki.
Former National Security Minister Chris Murungaru is seen as a central figure in a scandal involving security contracts with a fictional company,
called Anglo Leasing.
After Murungaru was questioned, his lawyer said they have asked the Court of Appeals to freeze an order issued by the anti-corruption chief for the
former minister to declare his wealth and account for how he got it.
Anti-corruption director Aaron Ringera is seeking to establish the wealth that Murungaru may have gathered by corrupt means. He ordered the former minister to declare assets he owns through his wife, family, friends and business associates.
Murungaru argues that the order violates his constitutional right against self-incrimination.
"I am being asked to declare everything that I own or not, what is owned by my friends, what is owned by my relatives, what is owned by my business associates. Even you my friends can be able to see that that is such a generalised requirement, that it is impossible to answer that question accurately," he said as he left the premises of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Building Commission.
Murungaru's lawyer, Paul Muite, said that asking Murungaru to give information and evidence which might in incriminate him was in violation of his constitutional rights.
The scandal, named after a fictional company called Anglo Leasing, emerged in 2004 and implicated some of President Mwai Kibaki's closest confidants.
Last month, anti-corruption investigators questioned Vice President Moody Awori over his role in the Anglo Leasing scandal.
Awori, who has resisted calls to resign, is the highest ranking official to be interviewed by the country's anti-corruption commission and the first sitting vice president to come under such scrutiny.
On Tuesday, Kibaki named replacements for three ministers who resigned recently because of the Anglo Leasing affair and another major corruption scandal.
Kenyan police also ordered 20 suspects in a major corruption case - including a former president's two sons - to turn in their passports and any firearms in their possession.

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