Anti-graft war must not be politicised, says Raila

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 politicised 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.