This scandal was captured in the report realesed in February 2006 by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) and the local chapter of Transparency International. The report uncovered that between January 2003 and September 2004, the National Rainbow Coalition government spent about $12-million on cars that were mostly for the personal use of senior government officials. The vehicles included 57 Mercedes-Benz, as well as Land Cruisers, Mitsubishi Pajeros, Range Rovers, Nissan Terranos and Nissan Patrols.
The $12-million was way above what the government spent over the 2003/04 financial year on controlling malaria – “the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Kenya”, says the report. Posing the question, does lives of the ‘Common Mwananchi‘ really matter?