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Chinese Officials Arrested for Bribery Amid Kenya's SGR Corruption Inquiry

by Salem Solomon

   WASHINGTON --

   Kenyan authorities have arrested seven officials with the China Road
   and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) for bribing investigators looking into
   corruption tied to the Standard Gauge Railway, the [1]Daily Nation, one
   of Kenya's largest newspapers, reported Sunday.

   The arrests mark the first time Chinese officials have faced charges
   linked to the SGR, which has garnered controversy since the inaugural
   run between Nairobi, the capital, and Mombasa, a major coastal city, in
   mid 2017.

   Agents with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) arrested
   three Chinese nationals and four Kenyan officials, all of whom work for
   the CRBC and will face charges in court Monday, according to The
   Nation.

   The arrests mark the first time Chinese officials have faced charges
   linked to the SGR, which has garnered controversy since the inaugural
   run between Nairobi, the capital, and Mombasa, a major coastal city, in
   mid 2017.

   Agents with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) arrested
   three Chinese nationals and four Kenyan officials, all of whom work for
   the CRBC and will face charges in court Monday, according to The
   Nation.

   The EACC said on Twitter the bribe totaled 500,000 Kenyan shillings, or
   about $4,850.

   The Nation cited unnamed sources with the railway who claimed the fraud
   under investigation amounts to about 1 million Kenyan shillings a day,
   or about $9,700.

   Based on an estimated 4,000 daily ticket sales and an average ticket
   price of $15.50, more than 15 percent of daily revenue may be subject
   to fraud.

   The more than $3 billion SGR launched in May 2017 amid much fanfare,
   but has been tarnished by allegations of corruption and racism, and
   concerns about its economic viability.

   Nicknamed the "Madaraka Express," the Nairobi-Mombasa line connects
   Kenya's two largest cities and was billed as a way to cut travel time
   and bolster the economy.

   But project costs ballooned as the work progressed, and some observers
   say the Kenyan government overpaid for the project, which replaced the
   colonial-era, British-built "Lunatic Express" line.

   Sunday's arrests aren't the first charges against officials tied to the
   SGR.

   In August, two top [2]Kenyan officials were charged with corruption
   tied to land acquisition for the railway. The prosecutor's office
   identified more than a dozen other Kenyan officials and businesspeople
   who had been arrested.

   Salem Solomon is a multimedia digital journalist with the Voice of
   America's Africa Division. She covers [3]the latest news from across
   the continent, and she also reports and edits in [4]Amharic and
   [5]Tigrigna.

   Salem's multimedia and data-driven projects include [6]How Western
   DRC's Ebola Outbreak Was Contained, [7]Unrest: Ethiopia at a
   Crossroads, [8]Zimbabwe in Transition, [9]Hunger Across Africa and
   [10]How Long Have Africa's Presidents Held Office?

   Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post,
   Poynter.org and Reuters. She researches trends in analytics and digital
   journalism. For tips and inquiries, email: salemsolomon@voanews.com.

References

   1. https://www.nation.co.ke/news/Seven-officials-held-as-detectives-probe-SGR-tickets-scandal/1056-4867580-ftcfnsz/index.html
   2. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/11/world/africa/kenya-railway-corruption.html
   3. http://www.voanews.com/author/25229.html
   4. http://amharic.voanews.com/author/25085.html
   5. http://tigrigna.voanews.com/author/25525.html
   6. https://projects.voanews.com/drc-ebola-outbreak/?utm_source=voaprojects
   7. https://projects.voanews.com/ethiopia-unrest/
   8. https://projects.voanews.com/zimbabwe-in-transition/
   9. http://projects.voanews.com/africa-drought/home.php
  10. http://projects.voanews.com/african-presidents/