Waiguru questions parameters used in ranking leaders as corrupt

Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru has questioned the validity of a recent IPSOS poll that ranked her second most corrupt leader in Kenya, trumping former President Daniel Moi.

In an exclusive interview with Citizen TV‘s Jeff Koinange on Wednesday night, Governor Waiguru rubbished the report insisting that it was sponsored a by a political rival.

“There is no way you can measure corruption in terms of ‘who is the most…’ There is nothing like  ‘very much’ corrupt and ‘very little’ corrupt. Corruption is an issue of integrity; you’re either corrupt or not corrupt; you either have integrity or you don’t have integrity,” Waiguru said on the JKL Live show.

“It (the poll) also ranked me above the former President Moi who ruled this country for 24 years… I mean, how ridiculous can it get? Everybody knows what we think about the Moi era, are you saying that I stole more than Moi?”

Waiguru also questioned the parameters used in ranking leaders in terms of ‘who is the most corrupt’ according to the IPSOS poll.

“I would want you tell me how you measure that: is it measured by the amount of money I have stolen? Who has the facts about the money I have stolen?

“Why am I still here and not in a court of law if I have stolen a single cent from this government?” she posed.

According to IPSOS Lead Researcher Tom Wolf, the question they asked participants is: “More generally, who do Kenyans consider among all present and (still living) past leaders as “most corrupt?”

“Whereas former CS for Devolution and now Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru received the most mentions in terms of being associated with a particular locus of corruption (the NYS), Deputy President William Ruto receives the most mentions in terms of “current and past leaders” perceived to be (or to have been) corrupt,” the report reads.

The governor further addressed the photo of her and the Deputy President together, barely a day after the release of the poll saying “it was a mere coincidence.”

When asked why she is perceived as untouchable, Waiguru said if that was the case, then she would still have retained her position as Cabinet Secretary.

“There are other CSs who have lost more money than me. If you’re going to give the responsibility to the CS, then you should also ask them why they are still in office,” she stated.