Jubilee, Nasa money rows could go to court as fights intensify

Fights over finances in the Jubilee Party and the National Super Alliance (Nasa) have intensified, with disgruntled members threatening to seek legal redress.

Deputy President William Ruto’s allies, who have been pushing the Jubilee Party to publish its financial records, have said they will go to court to compel party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju to disclose the names of those employed by the party and their salaries.

Jubilee Deputy Secretary-General Caleb Kositany told the Nation that they have given Mr Tuju another opportunity to furnish them with the documents, failing which they will seek legal redress.

“On July 22, 2020, we wrote to Mr Tuju demanding information on the assets of the party, copies of leases for the headquarters as well as county offices, a list of all employees and the party wage bill, minutes of the audit and the finance committees and procurement records, failing  which we will move to court,” Mr Kositany said.

DEMAND FOR TRUTH

The Soy MP also recently claimed that the ruling party cannot be broke yet more than Sh1.3 billion could not be accounted for.

The de facto spokesman of DP Ruto said he should not be intimidated for demanding “the truth and transparency”.

But Tuesday, Mr Tuju said he would not engage Mr Kositany any further on the issue of party funds and dared him to go to court.

“I don’t think I want to engage in altercations with him every other day. This is a free country and litigation is legal,” Mr Tuju said.

Keiyo South MP and DP ally Daniel Rono also warned Mr Tuju that he should prepare for a court battle if he does not comply with their demands.

Jubilee Vice-Chairman David Murathe said the claims by the Tangatanga MPs cannot be substantiated and told them to get the information from the party’s national treasurer, who is also a member of their faction.

GUNS ON KOSITANY

Some Jubilee MPs allied to President Uhuru Kenyatta have now trained their guns on Mr Kositany for driving a narrative they say is meant to bring down the party. 

Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu and his Cherang’any counterpart Joshua Kutuny said  it was hypocritical of the Soy MP to claim that party funds had been lost yet he is a party official, adding that if there was any truth in his statement, then he should also be liable. 

And in Nasa, Musalia Mudavadi’s Amani National Congress (ANC) Tuesday threatened to write to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) if ODM does not explain what it did with their two-year monthly subscription fees.

ANC Deputy Party Leader Ayub Savula accused ODM of not giving Nasa a financial report on how the Sh10,000 monthly subscription fees they paid was spent.

MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION FEES

“We are telling ODM, which was in charge of the Nasa secretariat, that all MPs paid Sh10,000 monthly subscription fees and ANC legislators paid the money for two years. Now we shall write an official letter as ANC to demand to be told the the whereabouts of that money,” Mr Savula told the Nation.

“We shall pursue it and if they don’t respond to our letter, we shall have no option but to write to the DCI and the EACC to investigate the ODM party.”

But ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna insisted ODM has single-handedly financed the Nasa secretariat after the 2017 elections, including paying staff salaries and that Mr Savula’s claims are unsubstantiated.

“All the other Nasa parties refused to submit the Sh10,000 monthly payment to finance the secretariat,” Mr Sifuna said.

But Mr Savula insisted the Nasa affiliate legislators paid the money and told Mr Sifuna to prepare to record a statement with the DCI on the matter.

“If they ate the money, let them be ready to face the consequences. That’s public money and must be accounted for,” Mr Savula said.