The Goldenberg scandal was a political scandal where the Kenyan government was found to have subsidised exports of gold far beyond standard arrangements during the 1990s, by paying the company Goldenberg International 35% more (in Kenyan shillings) than their foreign currency earnings. Although it notionally appears that the scheme was intended to earn hard currency for the country, it is estimated to have cost Kenya the equivalent of more than 10% of the country's annual gross domestic product, and it is possible that no or minimal amounts of gold were actually exported. The scandal appears to have involved political corruption at the highest levels of the government of Daniel Arap Moi. Officials in the former government of Mwai Kibaki have also been implicated. Background Similar to most countries, Kenya encourages international trade by granting tax-free status to commercial enterprises involved in the export of goods and sometimes subsidises these exports. The Goldenberg scandal was based on the fact that exporters who deposited US$ earnings with the Kenya central bank received in exchange the equivalent in Kenyan shillings plus 20 percent. However, gold mining represented a tiny portion of Kenya's GDP, with only one operational gold mine (at Kakamega). Goldenberg International therefore developed a scheme of smuggling gold into Kenya from Congo, so that they could legally export it at the higher export price offered by the Kenyan government. Details The chief architect behind the scheme was a relative of the Kenyan businessman Kamlesh Pattni. However, it was Pattni who established Goldenberg International to implement the scheme. Almost all the politicians in the Moi government and a considerable percentage of the Kibaki government have been accused. The judicial system also appears to have been deeply involved, with twenty-three of Kenya's senior judges resigning after evidence indicated their involvement. The scheme began in 1991, almost immediately after the Kenya government, following directions from the IMF, introduced measures to reform the economy and increase international trade and investment, and seems to have stopped in 1993 when it was exposed by a whistleblower, David Munyakei. As a result of this, Munyakei was fired from his position at the Central Bank of Kenya, and remained largely unemployed until his death in 2006. There have been two investigations on the scam, one under the Moi government and the other under the Kibaki's government. The gold, if there was any, was likely imported from Democratic Republic of