THIS is the tale of the tragic failure of a brave and honest man
appointed to expose corruption by a new Kenyan president who
came to power on a wave of high-minded enthusiasm in late 2002,
claiming to be a clean-handed reformer. Within a few years the
brave man, John Githongo, is betrayed by the president, Mwai
Kibaki, and by most of the big man's closest colleagues, many of
whom prove themselves to be patently corrupt. Mr Githongo is at
first intensely loyal to Mr Kibaki, who gives him an office down
the corridor in State House. But the whistleblower comes to
realise that the president acquiesces in corruption of the
grossest kind, and flees for his life into exile.  There is far
more to this gripping saga than that. It is a down-to-earth yet
sophisticated exposé of how an entire country can be munched in
the clammy claws of corruption. It is also a devastating account
of how corruption and tribalism—the author prefers the grander
term ethno-nationalism—reinforce each other, as clannish elites
exploit colle