A report from Kenya which underlines the massive importance of increasing foreign aid so as to abolish, once and for all, the spectre of absolute poverty in the Third World:

Sir Edward has become the bane of Mr Kibaki’s
administration since he began a crusade against top-level corruption
last year. This month he accused ministers of "massive looting" and
said he had handed over details of 20 major scandals to the president.

The
government was quick to brand Sir Edward "an incorrigible liar" and "an
enemy of the state" but was alarmed by the overwhelming support he
received among Kenyans.

In what amounted to the
first tacit admission that Sir Edward’s allegations were true, Mr
Kimunya said senior civil servants leaked the details that formed the
basis of the dossier. "The information was corruptly obtained," Mr
Kimunya said. "He should be taken in."

Mr Kimunya
is seen as one of President Kibaki’s closest allies. Both men are
members of the Kikuyu, Kenya’s largest tribe. A cabal of Kikuyu
ministers is accused of cashing in on a series of procurement tenders,
costing Kenya up to £500 million half the government’s annual budget
since Mr Kibaki came to power two years ago.

It
is unlikely that the government would be rash enough to fulfil its
threat and breach diplomatic immunity by arresting Sir Edward. But
there are signs that Nairobi is prepared to ignore international
condemnation and assume a policy of defiance similar to that practised
by Mr Mugabe.

In a worrying sign of a return to
the repression that characterised Kenyan politics in former years, Mr
Kimunya announced that all civil servants who leak information on
corruption to foreign diplomats or the press would be charged with
treason, a hanging offence.

The move is seen as
particularly targeting the former head of the anti-corruption unit,
John Githongo, who resigned this month and fled the country. His
departure prompted the United States, Britain and Germany to suspend
aid.

Aid has been suspended, which might surprise some. For, after all, how are we to abolish poverty unless we send money? As the Make Poverty History crowd tell us, we should not insist upon any changes in economic policy, should not tie aid at all, for to do so is to undermine the ability of a country to develop in its own way.