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CORD or Jubilee Governors must answer for graft – Raila

Odinga said due process should be followed in bringing corrupt Governors – whether in Jubilee or the Opposition – to book instead of demonising devolution/COURTESY-RAILA MEDIA

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 27 – Opposition leader Raila Odinga now says any corrupt Governors should be arrested and prosecuted.

Odinga said due process should be followed in bringing corrupt Governors – whether in Jubilee or the Opposition – to book instead of demonising devolution.

“All the investigative agencies fall under the National Government, they don’t fall under the Opposition… we are not in the government. We can only expose corruption but it is the responsibility of the government through the institutions under their control to carry out the prosecutions,” he asserted.

“There is nothing to stop this government from arresting Governors, MCAs, MPs whether they are from Jubilee or CORD, who are involved in corruption and prosecuting them; they are committing a crime. The government has got instruments of power to compel these people to be accountable.”

The former PM made the remarks during a news conference held at his Karen residence Friday, where he spoke on the state of corruption in the country.

Odinga said the government should look to Nigeria where President Muhammadu Buhari’s government – which came to power in 2015 – has so far prosecuted and jailed five governors on graft related charges.

“Kenyans have waited in vain for action on thefts of the billions of public money, the banking frauds, the apparent money laundering schemes and the penalization of the thieves that have made life so miserable to so many. It is hope against hope,” he noted.

According to the Opposition leader, a recently published report by Transparency International should prompt an emergency Cabinet meeting to deliberate the vice.

In the report, Kenya has been listed among the 20 most corrupt countries in the world, alongside like Bangladesh, Cameroon, The Gambia, Madagascar and Nicaragua.

The CORD leader claimed the country had reached unprecedented levels of corruption, yet those in authority are shying away from the confronting the ‘dragon.’

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“We know nothing will be done. In these final days, Kenyans can only expect that Jubilee will pull more schemes to steal more money. We can only expect more last minute tenders to put more money into the hands of tenderpreneurs who have been supplying us with air these past four years.”

Odinga added: “We expect the administration to invent more excuses for engaging in corruption in addition to the one the President invented this week-that it is Raila Odinga stopping him from doing what is right.”

He further warned that the country was slowly joining the super league of the most corruption nations accusing the Jubilee government of not doing enough to end the vice.

“That should concern an administration. It should occasion an emergency meeting of the Cabinet, even if that is where the thieves gather as is the case in our country. As we speak, Jubilee is syndicating USD800 million dollars (Sh83.2 billion) to international bank loans not for development but to plug the holes that their looting has created,” the former PM told reporters.

The Opposition leader claimed that due to this, every Kenyan child is now born with a debt of Sh90,000.

This comes a day after the National Treasury announced stock of Kenya’s public debt is likely to hit Sh3.77 trillion by the end of June.

This is double the Sh1.89 trillion reported in June 2013 when President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee administration took the reins of power.

The money men attribute the rise to heavy investment in infrastructure development.

In the Annual Public Debt Management Report 2016-17 report tabled before the National Assembly, the debt is likely to rise further to Sh5.32 trillion in 2020.

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