Cord turns its guns on Rotich and Wario after Waiguru exit

Cord has now turned its guns on Cabinet secretaries Henry Rotich and Hassan Wario, as well as the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), for criticism after what they deem a victory in the resignation of Ms Anne Waiguru from the powerful Devolution docket.

They accuse EACC chief executive Halakhe Waqo of being used to sanitise corrupt government officers and, at the same time, presiding over “massive cover-up” of serious economic crimes ever since commissioners led by chairman Mumo Matemu resigned last May.

EUROBOND'S PENDING QUESTIONS

Mr Rotich, the Treasury Cabinet Secretary, has been singled out because of pending questions on the $2.75 billion (Sh275 billion) Eurobond floated by the Government on the Irish Stock Exchange, while Mr Wario, the Sports CS, is at the centre of the bungled trip by national football team Harambee Stars to Cape Verde, where the squad lost to the host country last week.

Scandalous arrangement for the trip are seen as the latest indicator of Mr Wario’s poor performance.

To the Opposition, the EACC — famed for its metaphoric revolving door at Integrity Centre — has been turned into the equivalent of a laundry shrine where corrupt senior government officials go to clean records of plunder. Should the sins prove indelible, junior officers shoulder the blame.

HALAKHE WAQO MUST GO

Cord co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka told the Sunday Nation that the Opposition would not relent until Mr Waqo quit.

“There is a fellow at the EACC called Halakhe who must also leave. He is in conspiracy with some corrupt governor to sanitise him. He absolutely has no mandate,” he said.

Despite coming out to say that she was the whistleblower in her docket, Ms Waiguru was viewed by the Opposition as receiving preferential treatment from investigating arms of the government.

When she was eventually summoned by the EACC to shed light on the graft claims — only to emerge as a State witness — some viewed that as confirmation that there were sacred cows in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s fight on corruption.

And when she threw in the towel last week, Ms Waiguru said the Opposition had turned the war on graft into a war on her personality, making it hard for her to discharge her duties.

CORRUPTION NETWORKS

Mr Musyoka, who is a former vice president, said they have been doing “underground investigation” on how the EACC conducts its work and are convinced that it is a conduit for preservation of corruption networks.

“We have all the information on how they meet in some dark corners with corrupt individuals and receive money so that they can clean them up,” he claimed.

EACC response

But in a statement to the Sunday Nation, an infuriated Mr Waqo hit back at the Cord brigade, accusing it of dishonesty. The EACC boss also warned that the Opposition’s “Mr Clean” would burst soon.

“You might see some of them in court very soon because they themselves are not clean,” said Mr Waqo, adding: “The commission is immune to external interference. What we do is for the good of this country and it is fallacious for one to peddle lies about us.”

CONNIVANCE IN CORRUPTION

He challenged Mr Musyoka to produce evidence on his claims of connivance in corruption if he meant well for the country.

Mr Waqo said that from their records, the amount of work they had achieved in the past six months cannot be matched with what his predecessors accomplished in six years.

“We have 346 cases in court and the number rises every day. For the first time, we were able to crack the Anglo-Leasing case. We are working. Unless they want me to kill these suspects — but I am sorry I have no such powers. It is now for the courts to do their bit,” he said.

Mr Waqo said they were impressed by President Kenyatta’s decision not to include in the Cabinet individuals who have pending graft cases and investigations.

Meanwhile, the Wiper party leader said Cord would write to foreign envoys advising them to shun the EACC, insisting that other than being “the dark agent of graft” it is not properly and legally constituted.

PHILIP KINISU TO CHAIR EACC

President Kenyatta wants Mr Philip Kinisu to chair the commission and has since forwarded his name to the National Assembly for vetting.

Other nominees are Mr Dabar Abdi Maalim, Mr Paul Mwaniki Gachoka, Ms Sophia Lepuchirit and Ms Rose Mghoi Mtambo Macharia.

Once confirmed, Cord’s argument that the commission may not be legally created could be outlived.

The Wiper leader declared soon after Mr Kenyatta sacked five Cabinet Secretaries suspended in March over graft allegations that the Opposition now wanted the whole Cabinet disbanded.

“Jubilee is engulfed in corruption through and through. If at all Mr Kenyatta listens to some sound advice, he must send all the ministers condoning graft home,” he said.

MORAL AUTHORITY

Jubilee politicians have, however, dismissed the push as a hopeless campaign of blackmail, charging that Cord not only lacks the moral authority to lecture them on corruption but also lacks the capacity to sack Mr Waqo and his team.

“They are under some strange illusion that President Kenyatta reorganised his Cabinet because of their prompting. This is furthest from the truth. Show me one politician in Cord who can claim to be incorruptible. In fact, their faces alone represent graft, we will smoke them out in due course,” National Assembly Majority leader Aden Duale said.

Central Kenya Parliamentary Group chairman Dennis Waweru, also the Dagoretti South MP, said by taking on more CSs and the EACC, Cord had proved its bag of tricks was empty.

“Contrary to their claim, our position — which they have criticised before — is that EACC has not been lending the Executive a firm hand in eliminating graft. They have not been assertive enough and that is why EACC is being overhauled. That is also why the President has drafted an action-plan committing all to the fight against graft,” he said.

Another thorn in Mr Kenyatta’s flesh is the legal route the Law Society of Kenya has adopted to compel his government to provide information on how the billions of dollars borrowed in the international market through the bond were spent.

BLOCK GOVERNMENT FROM FOREIGN BORROWING

Last week, LSK chairman Eric Mutua threatened to move to court to block the government from any further foreign borrowing if no explanation was forthcoming.

And on Saturday, he told the Sunday Nation that there had not been a word yet from Mr Rotich’s office on the matter. “The plan to sue is on course. Our lawyers are working on draft pleadings,” Mr Mutua said.

The lawyers say they will seek orders from the courts that Mr Rotich and Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge be held personally liable for any funds lost and be declared unsuitable to hold public office if they will not have given a full account by November 30, a window which closes tomorrow.

The LSK cites a Sh38 billion omission — not reflected by the Controller of Budget — which they say Mr Rotich must fully account for. Mr Rotich told Parliament earlier this month that the money was used to pay off older loans and to fund infrastructure projects in various government ministries.