President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday defended Devolution Cabinet
Secretary Anne Waiguru, saying she was not under investigation in
connection with corruption allegations against the National Youth
Service.
The President’s spokesman, Mr Manoah Esipisu,
said State House would not require Ms Waiguru to step aside, despite
pressure from the Opposition.
State House also said
that the alleged irregular payments and questionable transactions
involving Sh826 million were stopped after Ms Waiguru intervened.
He
was reacting to sentiments by Cord leader Raila Odinga, who, earlier
this week, challenged the President to suspend the CS and revoke the
title deed for the land on which a hotel associated with the Deputy
President stands. Mr Odinga said such action would prove that the
President was serious about fighting corruption.
And yesterday, Mr Odinga, accused the government of embarking “on a concerted and ill-informed effort to mislead the public”.
“What
is in question is the very shady, murky and extremely unethical
procurement procedures at the Ministry of Devolution’s NYS projects
where beans, dengu, sugar, rice and milk, among other things, are being
supplied at exaggerated prices by shadowy companies, some of which are
linked to senior officials in government, under questionable procurement
procedures,” the ODM leader said in a statement emailed to media
houses.
He said the President “has no authority to
declare an end to investigations or no investigations whatsoever where
the public has reason to believe investigations ought to go on.
MURKY BUSINESS
“Unless
the President is party to the murky business going on at the NYS, he
must keep off this scandal and allow thorough and independent audit.”
In
a direct criticism of the President, the ODM leader said the presidency
was neither an investigative agency nor could it speak for the Central
Bank or the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
“We
strongly object to the existence of two sets of laws governing the war
on corruption where some suspects get presidential cover while others
are left on their own,” Mr Odinga said. “Covering up for the corrupt can
never qualify as transformative change.”
At State House, however, Mr Esipisu said that the investigations on the NYS had been twisted to meet certain political ends.
“It
is for these reason that we need to put the record straight in the
spirit of “Uwazi” (transparency),” he told a press conference at State
House, Nairobi.
Mr Esipisu also said that the Central Bank of Kenya was not investigating the CS.
“Anne
Waiguru is not under investigations by the police, by the Ethics and
Anti-Corruption Commission or the Central Bank. As such, there is no
reason to ask her to step aside,” he said.
Ms Waiguru is currently in Colombia to receive a public service award on behalf of the government.
Mr
Esipisu said the NYS case could not be compared to that of five other
Cabinet secretaries who were asked to step aside after they were
mentioned in various scandals in a report tabled by the President in the
National Assembly.
In March, the President suspended
CSs Michael Kamau (Roads and Infrastructure), Kazungu Kambi (Labour),
Felix Koskei (Agriculture), Charity Ngilu (Lands, Urban Planning and
Housing) and Davis Chirchir (Energy and Petroleum).
Mrs
Ngilu and Mr Kamau have been charged with various offences, including
abuse of office in Mr Kamau’s case and interfering with investigations
in Mrs Ngilu’s case.
Yesterday, Mr Esipisu also said
that a clarification as to whether the Central Bank was investigating
the NYS had been sought by the African Development Bank, whose client,
Bora Global, is involved with the NYS.
He said that on June 19, a progress report from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations was dispatched to Ms Waiguru.
“Subsequently,
the Cabinet secretary for Devolution and Planning wrote to the Director
of the Criminal Investigations Department, CID, asking for speedy
investigations into this illegality,” said Mr Esipisu.
He said a forensic analysis report by the Cyber Crime Unit was awaited so that those behind the fraud could be dealt with.
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