A TALE OF THE MASTERMINDS OF THE NOXIOUS GRAND SCAMS.

Dear Sir/Madam, T S Elliot, a 1948 Nobel Prize winner in Literature wrote a poem titled “Macavity –The Mystery cat.” Macavity was described as having a hidden paw, having the movement of a snake and a criminal who used his intellect to defy the law. He was bafflement to Scotland Yard and caused constant despair to the Flying Squad; for when they reached the scene of the crime, Macavity was simply not there. This was suavity and deceitfulness par excellence. He always had an alibi and spared one or two more alibis just in case they came in handy. He was outwardly respectable in spite of being a Napoleon of crime, the crème de la crème. It was therefore not surprising that his footsteps could not be found in any file of the Scotland Yard. Today, the fictitious Macavity has acquired life. He is alive and kicking in Kenya. He is not one. There are many. The edacious Macavity are more emboldened in the perpetuation of noxious deceit as they are equipped with a fat legal experience often coupled with the exquisite Harvard legalese. They are not in the same league with the pusillanimous. They are true master minds of crime, the men who supervise brigandage on grand scales. You have heard Macavity spin legal webs in defense of the well executed schemes that led to loss of billions of shillings in the Golden Berg, Anglo leasing, Grand Regency and the porous Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC). For instance in the wake of the fuel shortage witnessed in 2008 and following complaints by oil marketers and financiers it was revealed that stocks amounting to 126.4 million litres were irregularly and illegally released to Triton Petroleum Limited between November 2007 and November 2008. Triton was not entitled to the stocks, nor did financiers authorize the release as required under contractual arrangements. Today, its architects are still a mysterious. In Macavity`s case, it was rumored that all the cats whose wicked deeds were widely known were nothing more than agents of Macavity the Napoleon of crime. Like Macavity, blame for the scandal has tended to be heaped on junior officers at the state corporation. When the subordinates are nabbed, which isn't often, there is no evidence linking the crimes to the masters. The master mind of crime is a mysterious "brain" who plans the crimes that lesser criminals execute. Were we not told that junior clerks at KPC's operations department, especially "schedulers" (i.e. those involved in the actual release of the product from KPC system), were responsible for the Triton saga? We were also not told of how junior officers inflated costs during the Oil Pumbing Capacity Enhancement Programme where the president and the Prime Minister were duped into officiating a project that was barely 20 percent complete in spite of records saying that it was almost complete? And now accusing fingers are being pointed at junior officers in the scandal involving the procurement of machinery parts in KPC. The situation is no different in other sectors. With alacrity unmatched, some Ministers in cahoots with senior officers in their ministries and parastatals hermetically sealed all the possible avenues for the unraveling of the scandals. Their rendition always almost made us believe that there was no iota of evidence to warrant prosecutions. Of course you and I were so sure that the Ministerial statements issued in parliament in the wake of the scandals were as clear as mud. Going back to the KPC, we are almost sure that honorable Kiraitu`s odious silence will be shattered by yet another master piece of defense. But isn`t his reactionary move symptomatic of a Minister who is ill equipped to head this vital Ministry? The Minister must resign to pave way for unhindered investigations in the company. The onus is with the able parliament (whose reputation is now a notch higher) to help rid KPC and other parastatals of “Macavity-The Mystery Cat.” TOME FRANCIS, BUMULA CONSTITUENCY.