President accepts top ministers' resignations

(14 Feb 2006) SHOTLIST
February 14, 2006
1. Streets scenes in Nairobi
2. Various of newspapers on sale in Nairobi
February 13, 2006
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Mwai Kibaki, Kenyan President:
"I have today accepted the request by Professor George Saitoti to step aside from his responsibilities as Minister for Education, Science and Technology in order to pave the way for investigations into the issues raised in the Report of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Goldenberg Affair."
February 14, 2006
4. Man standing reading newspaper
February 13, 2006
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Mwai Kibaki, Kenyan President:
"I have accepted the request by Honourable Kiraitu Murungi to step aside from his responsibilities as the Minister for Energy in order to allow full investigations into allegations made against him in regard to the Anglo Leasing affair. I urge all Kenyans to exercise patience as the relevant arms of the law carry out investigations into these issues."
February 14, 2006
6. Another man standing reading newspaper
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Arthur Angira, Vox pop:
"You know the (b) billions of money being saved, you know even now most of the parents have not sent their children to school, life is hard."
8. Various of people sitting in the street
STORYLINE
Kenyan police ordered 20 suspects in a major corruption case - including a former president's two sons - to turn in their passports and any firearms on Tuesday, the day after Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki announced the resignations of his energy and education ministers.
The former education minister, George Saitoti, was at the top of the list.
Former President Daniel arap Moi's two sons, Gideon and Philip, were included.
The police ordered the suspects not to leave the country without permission.
In an address on state-owned television on Monday, Kibaki said Saitoti and former Energy Minister Kiraitu Murungi had left the government to allow for investigations into two scandals.
The resignations came as pressure mounted on Kibaki to respond to allegations of high-level government corruption made last month by John
Githongo, who served as Kibaki's anti-corruption ombudsman for two years until February 2005.
Kibaki won elections in 2002 promising to root out the corruption that had become endemic under President Moi's 24-year rule.
Now, though, Kibaki is accused of allowing the old ways - and even some discredited figures from the previous government - to hold sway.
Saitoti, who was Moi's vice president and Kibaki's education minister, has been implicated in Kenya's biggest financial scandal, a scam dating to the
early 1990s.
In the statement issued on Tuesday morning, police listed Saitoti and the other 19 men as suspects in that scam, known as Goldenberg.
The scandal began as a ploy to get export credits for gold and diamond jewelry but evolved into a complex web of financial dealings.
Among the others on the list was a disgraced businessman, a member of parliament, the former spy chief, the former chief prosecutor and three men who served as top civil servants in various ministries.

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