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2017 KENYA ELECTIONS

NASA scheming with cartels for ‘State capture’ – Jubilee

Jubilee Party Secretary General Raphael Tuju says the Opposition must come clean on its campaign financing/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 7 – The Jubilee Party has challenged the National Super Alliance (NASA) to come clean on its financing saying the Opposition campaign is being bankrolled by corrupt individuals.

Secretary General Raphael Tuju told the press at the party headquarters on Friday that the Opposition alliance has been captured by a corruption cartel, led by businessman Jimi Wanjigi, associated with Tyl Limited, a company which allegedly clandestinely transacts on his behalf in the local and international scene.

Tuju described the partnership between Wanjigi and NASA leader Raila Odinga as one meant to fuel rampant corruption witnessed in past governments in what he described as State capture that led to massive loss of taxpayer’s monies.

“NASA is captive to corruption, Anglo Leasing and Goldenberg rolled into one. Forces of corruption have a foothold in NASA and our country is in danger of being overrun by a ruthless cartel which has taken NASA hostage making the alliance to prepare two manifestos; one to hoodwink Kenyans and the second to take care of grand corruption projects they intend to pay themselves with after funding NASA campaigns,” Tuju said accompanied by Senators Kipchumba Murkomen (Elgeyo Marakwet), Beatrice Elachi (Nominated) and Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichungwah.

According to Tuju, Wanjigi who he described as a “notoriously ruthless grand-scale kickback racketeer” directed and benefited from policy-level and executive decisions of former Prime Minister Odinga, his running mate Kalonzo Musyoka, as well as Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetangula who held senior positions in past administrations.

The Jubilee Party released a list of scandals in which the Kenyan taxpayer lost billions of shillings top among them the Anglo Leasing forensic lab project undertaken in 2001 in which $54 million was lost.

Jubilee also wants NASA to explain the beneficiaries of a security vehicle project executed by a company known as Silverstone which resulted into the loss of $90 million in 2001.

Tuju also said that Wanjigi was behind the Apex Finance police project in 2002 where $30 million is said to have been lost.

Other scandals traced to Wanjigi by Jubilee are an LBA systems security project and Apex Capital police projects where $25 million and $21 million respectively was lost in June 2002.

“Who is the great expert at inflating the cost of projects such at the Thika Super Highway and the Greenfield Airport project which was mysteriously increased from Sh750 million to Sh10 billion?” Tuju asked.

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He challenged Musyoka who introduced Wanjigi as a prominent businessman in a NASA function to tell the country what business he does.

“The so called intellectuals and experts working with NASA are mercenaries for hire earning consultancy fees from proceeds of corruption to do what they do for NASA,” Tuju remarked while referring to economist David Ndii and lawyer John Mwangi both working with the Opposition.

“Kenyans should know that NASA is not the progressive party it claims to be. It is made up of very dangerous people and is now the headquarters of Anglo Leasing,” he added.

He wondered what had led to the sudden change of mind by Odinga who viciously attacked NASA co-principal Wetangula, who during his tenure as Foreign Affairs Minister misappropriated where Sh1.6 billion while purchasing an embassy property in Tokyo despite Japan having offered a free property.

During the press conference, Ichungwah said that Odinga was behind a grand scheme to steal from state coffers by ensuring that Wanjigi influenced the award of the Standard Gauge Railway and the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport expansion project, otherwise dubbed the Greenfield project, to firms that would give him kickbacks.

According to Ichungwah, the refusal by President Uhuru Kenyatta to proceed with the implementation of the Greenfield project at an inflated price is what angered Wanjigi, opting to back the Opposition.

“You have heard Odinga say that he was responsible for impregnating the SGR project. Let him come clean what impregnating that project was because to him, impregnating meant getting kickbacks,” the Kikuyu lawmaker said.

Ichungwah dismissed claims that Wanjigi funded President Kenyatta’s 2013 presidential campaign saying that was not the case.

“We know that they wanted to take over the SGR project and that is why after failing to get it he jumped to NASA. He thought he will automatically become the broker for the project after expressing his support to Jubilee but that attempt was quashed,” Senator Murkomen said insisting that Jubilee never benefited from Wanjigi’s funding neither did the government return him the favour.

“Time is up. This greed exhibited by Wanjigi and his allies is what the Jubilee Government has fought,” Senator Elachi said.

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