By William Maclean
Nairobi - Kenya's top anti-corruption fighter said on Sunday that he would not pursue former president Daniel arap Moi for misdeeds during his 24-year rule, but others in his government defeated at polls a year ago were "fair game".
The remarks to Reuters by Permanent Secretary for Ethics and Governance John Githongo remove a year-long uncertainty about whether the East African country's new government will prosecute Moi, accused by many Kenyans of massive theft of state assets.
Moi denies any wrongdoing.
'Everyone else is fair game' "He will be treated with special respect," Githongo said in a telephone interview, explaining that Moi's gracious conceding of defeat in 2002 elections meant he had acquired a democratic stature that should be recognised.
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"We regard the former president as a special democratic case for Kenya, and therefore for Africa, and he will not be subject to the kind of scrutiny given to others," he said.
"Everyone else is fair game."
Analysts said Kenya recorded one of the most remarkable democratic changes in Africa in 2002 by peacefully retiring one of the continent's last old-style political strongmen.
Analysts say graft flourished among a predatory elite of businessmen, MPs and civil servants in Moi's rule which ended last December with a landslide win for President Mwai Kibaki.
Some of the money was lost through the corrupt sale of public land Kibaki has moved strongly to fight corruption and recently suspended half the country's top judges for taking bribes.
Commentators have said a prosecution of Moi, 79, for alleged past abuses could risk the country's stability because some of his allies remain in senior jobs in the civil service and provincial administration or are influential businessmen.
Kibaki's team is also anxious to avoid a perceived drain on time and manpower that trials of former presidents may be costing other African countries.
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