UK Ambassador to Kenya Nic Hailey, on Tuesday, turned down a basket of gifts offered to him by a government agency in Malindi.
Hailey was touring the Kenya Industrial Estates (KIE) in the area together with a delegation from the UK after his country signed an MoU with Kilifi County to launch Sustainable Urban Economic Development program estimated at Ksh720 million.
The Star reported that while the Ambassador was on tour and sampling different products that were on display, he was stunned by some leather belts and so he inquired if they would be available on sale in Nairobi.
He was informed that they would be available at Village Market. The Company's Managing Director Parman ole Narikae then reportedly offered the products as a gift to the envoy.
He, however, curtly declined the officer stating, "I don’t like free things, that would be promoting corruption".
He also allegedly declined to purchase various other products from the tour including coconut oil explaining it would better benefit the manufacturers if he got them from a supermarket.
On Thursday morning, Hailey took the war further when he appeared on Pwani FM and spoke about UK's commitment towards fighting the vice in the country.
"If big people end up in jail, we will know this campaign has succeeded.
"On one level corruption is just theft... but it is also complicated theft... expert help is needed," he explained.
The British government will provide Ksh7.2 Billion to facilitate similar urban programmes.
