Keep DP Ruto out of your woes - Duale tells Kalonzo

National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale yesterday told Nasa co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka to stop dragging Deputy President William Ruto’s name into his foundation’s saga.

Mr Duale dismissed claims by Mr Musyoka that Mr Ruto is behind the closure of the Kalonzo Musyoka Foundation.

He told the Wiper leader to account for donations towards the foundation and stop looking for a scapegoat.

VICTIMISATION
The Garissa Township MP claimed that Mr Musyoka misappropriated funds donated by China for construction of schools in Makueni and Kitui counties.

“Carry your own cross and stop dragging the DP’s name into your woes. I wonder how Mr Ruto comes in, unless you have substantial evidence to link him,” he said at a rally in Diiso, Garissa.

Mr Duale wondered why individuals would drag the DP’s name in their personal issues, adding that a number of losers in the just concluded Jubilee primaries also tried to blame Mr Ruto.

Meanwhile, the NGO Council of Kenya and the NGOs Coordination Board have clashed over the move to freeze the accounts of the foundation.

The NGO Council has accused the board of not consulting it in decisions that affect its members, stating that such actions would lead to victimisation of NGOs.

UNILATERAL DECISIONS
The foundation is accused of failing to account for Sh196 million.

Earlier, the board froze the accounts of Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero’s foundation.

Speaking yesterday in Nairobi, the NGO Council’s Chairman Stephen Cheboi said there is a discord between the two institutions when it comes to decisions.

“I am telling you there is a problem. Our brother in the coordinating board is not involving stakeholders in anything.

"We saw the story of Kalonzo Musyoka Foundation in media. He should have told us so that we can interrogate the grounds which led to the decision,” Mr Cheboi said.

WITCH-HUNT
Mr Cheboi said the case will be investigated and both parties summoned to find out if the board’s decision was political witch-hunt or indeed, there were irregularities.

In Malindi, Wiper leaders termed the freezing of the foundation’s accounts political witch-hunt.

They accused the Jubilee government of punishing Mr Musyoka for his firm stand in the Opposition.

Lamu Woman Rep Shakilla Abdala, also the party’s deputy leader, told the government to stop harassing opposition leaders and concentrate on Jubilee campaigns.

Speaking at Sea View Hotel, she said Nasa leaders were being targeted during the campaigns.

“They first began by freezing the bank accounts of Mombasa Governor Hassan Ali Joho,” she said.