ODM's Raila Odinga (courtesy)
ODM leader Raila Odinga Friday took on Deputy President William
Ruto, accusing him of condoning corruption and urged Kenyans to stand up
and support the war on graft.
Mr
Odinga appeared irked by the DP’s comments on Thursday when he suggested
that only Sh7 billion, and not Sh21 billion, had been lost in the
construction of the controversial Kimwerer and Arror dams in Elgeyo
Marakwet.
SH7 BILLION
While
addressing the gathering during the State of Judiciary address at the
Supreme Court, Dr Ruto dismissed as a “flat lie” claims that Sh21
billion had been lost and demanded that the war on corruption must be
based on facts if it has to succeed.
But Mr Odinga hit back, telling Dr Ruto that Sh7 billion is “not pocket change”.
“Don’t
tell us that only Sh7 billion was lost. Sh7 billion is not pocket
change,” Mr Odinga said Friday when he addressed the ODM National
Governing Council at the Co-operative University in Karen, Nairobi
County.
The ODM leader said the DP is not committed to the war on corruption and instead was undermining it from within.
He
claimed that the DP and his handlers have politicized and ethnicised
the war on corruption, and urged Kenyans to stand firm and not be swayed
by corrupt cartels which he described as "bold, fearless, reckless and
contemptuous of the country’s laws and institutions".
“A thief is a thief. He doesn’t steal for his community and such people must be prepared to carry their own cross.”
SCANDAL
He
added: “We are witnessing a level of corruption never seen before in
our country. It is a web that has all the makings of a criminal
enterprise working from within the State itself,” he said, while calling
on ODM supporters to reject, name and shame those involved.
“You
must stand firm and take the lead in making life difficult for such
people by reminding them Kenya is bigger and none of them is above the
law.”
He warned against politicising
the anti-graft war, reminding the delegates that those who steal do not
do so for their communities.
Party
chairman John Mbadi said senator Kipchumba Murkomen should be
investigated in relation to the dams scandal, arguing that the senator
seems to know much more than he revealed when he delivered his personal
statement in the Senate on Thursday.
“Mr Murkomen is not a procurement officer at KVDA. But he seems to know who raised a voucher, how towels and tiles were procured and supplied. He and Mr Ruto know too much and must be investigated to explain what they know," he said at the meeting.
Story by Daily Nation
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