To say it has been an interesting week on the anti-corruption front would be putting it mildly. First, anti-corruption czar John Githongo's team traced an estimated $5 billion of misappropriated public funds to various accounts, assets and properties in Europe and the United States. 

Those who brokered the movement of these funds are known. More important, those Kenyan public figures who spirited the money out are also known. Our former president's only comment was to the effect that he does not have a single cent abroad. Kamlesh Pattni denied having anything to do with it - "Rubbish," he is reported to have said. And as yet unnamed people who are still in government are keeping their heads low and hoping it will all just blow over. 

While one hand of government was busily chasing down our money, the other hand was apparently just as busily trying to squander it. The vice president was forced to make a statement to parliament on how a seemingly innocuous arrangement for the Immigration Department to enhance its passport-issuing capacities at a cost of Ksh800 million ($10 million) turned into a murky and obtuse "anti-terrorism" project at a cost of Ksh2.7 billion ($35 million). His attempt to make his statement in his personal capacity - disallowing interventions from other members of the House - was fortunately disallowed. 

At a general level, the statement exemplified one of our more unfortunate national peculiarities. When we are put on the spot, our instinct is to become defensive, to deny whatever it is we are being questioned about, as though the questions are accusations. We find it hard to say that we do not know, that we are "investigating" or trying to find out - even when the situation is clearly such that it would be in our best, strategic interests to do so. Coming out in defence of what is at first glance (as well as second and third glances) not defensible, is not smart. 

I do not pretend to know a great deal about corruption and how it works. In fact, I am continually shocked at the deviousness revealed when specific cases of corruption are unravelled. But, like all Kenyans, I cannot afford to be casual about what we are watching. Because it has to do with our own money. Money that is meant to be deployed for our collective security and welfare. We are not disinterested parties. We are stakeholders. And, as a stakeholder, the two lessons that seem clear to me are as follows. 

First, as a colleague pointed out, contrary to the adage "a rolling stone gathers no moss," in corrupt deal-making, rolling stones quickly gather a great deal. The tiny pebble of a passport deal thus quickly acquires the moss of border control measures, identity card features and so on. For the various wheeler-dealers who have been carting around such projects attempting to sell them to various government departments are no fools when it comes to the need to consolidate their respective assaults on the public purse. What we need to keep our eyes on, then, is any genuinely approved and tendered for government projects - to ensure that they do not start to roll and gather moss. 

Second, we need to revisit the concept "conflict of interest" as it applies to public officials - from the top down. How did the relative of a public official end up being involved in this latest fiasco along with a blacklisted company affiliated with the public official ultimately responsible? What happened? Was it innocent coincidence? Only the investigation now apparently underway will tell.

But, regardless of the investigation's findings, the impression given to us about those entrusted with managing our money is terrible. Yes, our public officials have now been required to "declare their wealth." But doing so does not seem to have deepened their individual ethical understanding of how to declare and manage potential conflicts of interest. And the policies and systems to enable this are still obviously either ineffective or totally lacking. 

I feel sorry for Githongo. He already had his work cut out for him. Now his own colleagues are not making it any easier. 

L. Muthoni Wanyeki is executive director of the African Women's Development and Communication Network (Femnet) 

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