Kenya's former anti-corruption czar John Githongo arrived back home on Tuesday night for a brief visit after three years of self-imposed exile.
Githongo, who fled to Britain saying he feared for his life after forcing senior members of the government to resign during a graft investigation, said he was happy to be back since Kenya is his country.
"I am very happy to be back home. This is my country," said the former Permanent Secretary for Governance and Ethics in President Mwai Kibaki's first term.
Githongo, who was hugged by his mother, friends and relatives, is expected to meet Prime Minister Raila Odinga and later address an anti-corruption forum in Nairobi on Wednesday.
The self-exiled anti-graft expert said he will be in the country for the next two weeks. "I will be here for a brief period, then leave and come back later because this is my country," he told journalists Tuesday night.
In a statement issued in London last week, Githongo said that he had been invited back by Odinga and Vice President Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka.
"I have been greatly encouraged by both the Prime Minister and the Vice President," he said, "and now believe that it is time to return home and make any contribution I can to the future of my country."
He said Kenya has faced severe problems in recent months, and "some of these remain. But I have complete confidence in the ability of Kenyans, at all levels, to confront and surmount them."
"I intend to speak my mind on what I feel needs to be done. I have no political affiliations. My obligations are solely to the people of Kenya - particularly the poor, the dispossessed and those in need."
Threats to his safety arose after he revealed a massive corruption scandal involving several government ministers, known as the Anglo-Leasing affair.
The Anglo-Leasing affair involved contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars being awarded to fictitious firms for items such as hi-tech passports.
President Kibaki won 2002 elections on a pledge to tackle corruption which had plagued the previous administration.
Source:Xinhua
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