Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki appealed on Tuesday for patience from foreign donors who have publicly criticized his government for not moving fast enough to rein in rampant public corruption. "Fighting corruption is not an event but a process. It is a war that cannot be won in a single battle," he told an international anti-corruption conference in Nairobi. "It involves changing people and systems, it involves changing culture and uprooting systems of patronage that have existed since before independence," he said. Kibaki beat former president Daniel arap Moi in December 2002 elections with a pledge to fight corruption, but international donors have voiced concerns that far too little has been done to prosecute crooked officials. Corruption ranging from small-scale bribe-taking by police and government officials to massive theft of state resources by civil servants and politicians has severely damaged growth and deterred investment in East Africa's biggest economy, donors say. British High Commissioner Edward Clay has accused the government of fostering a "new corruption", while his U.S. counterpart, William Bellamy, has pressed Kibaki's administration to speed up the anti-graft drive or risk losing donor support. "I do appreciate that there are high expectations on this government, both from our friends and our own people. There are those who have expressed the view that we could have speeded up (the anti-graft drive)," Kibaki told the gathering organized by the Transparency International corruption watchdog. But, he said, before the war on graft could begin in earnest his new government had had to reform institutions which had been "completely compromised" by decades of political influence. "We also realized, very quickly indeed, that we were engaged in an uphill task, because corruption fights back, and does so viciously. Corrupt networks have at times regrouped and have waged a persistent campaign against the forces of anti-corruption." Kibaki said he was committed to providing strong leadership in curbing corruption, an apparent response to critics who say he should abandon his hands-off style and play a more visible role in the fight against graft. "I gave my commitment to provide leadership in the fight against corruption, and I will continue to do so. This leadership is what provides an enabling environment and continued impetus for success in this struggle," he said. The International Monetary Fund, long a critic of graft in Kenya, said in September it backed a $35 million loan to the East African nation after praising the creation of a new graft watchdog.
