Daggers drawn as MPs renew calls for wealth probe on Ruto

Lugari MP Ayub Savula. He wants Deputy President William Ruto subjected to a lifestyle audit. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The lawmakers want to know the source of the huge sums of money they claim Mr Ruto has been dishing out to a section of MPs allied to him.
  • They also told the DP’s allies to stop their sustained attacks on Central Organisation of Trade Union Secretary-General Francis Atwoli.

Ten members of Parliament have demanded that Deputy President William Ruto be subjected to a lifestyle audit before the next general election.

Led by Lugari MP Ayub Savula, the lawmakers want to know the source of the huge sums of money they claim Mr Ruto has been dishing out to a section of MPs allied to him.

“We want to know the net worth of the Deputy President so that when he will be running for president in 2022 we shall be able to assess whether he is fit to hold that office or not,” said Mr Savula, who read a statement on behalf of the other lawmakers at Parliament Buildings on Wednesday.

“A lifestyle audit should be carried out on the DP based on (the discrepancies between) his known income and the money he uses to bribe MPs who queue at his office,” Mr Savula added.

Mr Ruto’s allies were swift in their rejoinder. National Assembly Majority Whip Benjamin Washiali said Mr Savula lacks the moral standing to ask for a lifestyle audit on the DP as he is also facing a case in court.

“This is the vigilante style of justice that the President talked about during his State of the Nation address. The statement made by Savula is just political and should be dismissed,” Mr Washiali told the Nation.

SAVULA SLAMMED

Mr Washiali wondered why calls for a lifestyle audit are only aimed at Mr Ruto.

Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro said Mr Savula should be the last person to lecture people on corruption.

“We are ready for the lifestyle audit, but let’s start with Savula himself. He has fleeced this government and has therefore no moral authority to lecture people about the audit,” Mr Nyoro said.

The lawmakers who appended their signature to the statement include Joshua Kutuny (Cherengany), Raphael Wanjala (Budalang’i), Sakwa Bunyasi (Nambale), William Kamket (Tiaty), Beatrice Adagala (Vihiga), Alfred Agoi (Sabatia), Simba Arati (Dagoretti North), TJ Kajwang (Ruaraka) and Omar Mwinyi (Changamwe).

ATWOLI'S REMARKS

The MPs told the DP’s allies to stop their sustained attacks on Central Organisation of Trade Union (Cotu) Secretary-General Francis Atwoli.

“As far as we are concerned, it is within his (Mr Atwoli’s) democratic right (to speak freely) as enshrined in the Constitution,” Mr Savula said.

Speaking in Lamu last weekend, Mr Atwoli claimed that Mr Ruto’s name will not be on the ballot come 2022, setting off a flurry of angry reactions from pro-Ruto MPs who challenged him to explain his statement.

But Mr Savula said Mr Atwoli’s sentiments were premised on the fact that Mr Ruto had been assembling MPs allied to him to abuse the President, leading to divisions in Jubilee Party; hence he should not be supported to be on the ballot because he is not a team player.

The MPs further explained that Mr Atwoli’s remarks were based on the fact that the DP had been consistently against the war on corruption and criticising investigators, an indication that he is against the collective government effort to end graft.