Blow by blow reply to maize graft claims in Miguna book

• In this final part of a three-part series that started on Tuesday, journalist SARAH ELDERKIN, who serves as a media consultant for the Orange Democratic Movement and is close to Prime Minister Raila Odinga, responds to Miguna Miguna’s controversial book Peeling Back The Mask.

Understand Parliament

Perhaps Miguna does not understand how parliament works. The chief whip is elected by the parliamentary group.

The Prime Minister and ODM party leader had nothing to do with Midiwo’s appointment.

If members of parliament of their own volition decide to elect a certain individual as their whip, or, indeed, to any other position, what would happen if the PM interfered?

Apparently, he’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. That’s very convenient for a character assassin such as Miguna.

Then we come to Raila’s brother, Dr Oburu Oginga. Oburu has been an MP for three terms.

During the first two terms, he was never appointed to any ministry. Raila never appointed him when he had the opportunity. Oburu was a backbencher throughout.

Does somebody who has been returned to parliament three times deserve consideration for appointment? Many people might reasonably think so.

Leave alone that. Oburu has a doctorate in economics. He was senior economist and planning officer in government for 20 years.

He has given outstanding service in the public sector. Would that experience be useful in government, do we think?

Oburu was chosen to understudy a minister who had no experience or background whatsoever in finance or planning.

A reasonable response might be, thank God Oburu was there. There is nothing reasonable about Miguna’s response.

Likewise unreasonable is Miguna’s claim that “Raila made sure there was only one assistant minister in that ministry”.

What nonsense! Many ministries have only one assistant minister. How many are there in trade, public health and others?

Finance and planning originally had two but the portfolio was a joint one, later separated into two separate ministries, finance, and planning.

It is a total non-issue, but Miguna will pass up nothing he can use to cast aspersions, however ridiculous.

Scraping the barrel, he even has to pick on Midiwo’s brother-in-law. That is, Raila’s cousin’s wife’s brother. This is Elkanah Odembo, Kenya’s ambassador to the US.

Odembo, another accomplished individual highly respected internationally, was chairman of the Kenya National Council of Non-Governmental Organisations and the founding director of the Ufadhili Trust, the Centre for Philanthropy and Social Responsibility, which seeks to promote the spirit of giving, philanthropy and the use of local resources to improve people’s lives through corporate social responsibility, cross-sector partnership, technical assistance and policy research.