Leave petty politics out of graft war: DP
What you need to know:
Deputy President said the campaign was a government initiative that must be achieved.
He added that the war must continue because “it has no sides and knows no politics.
He said war on corruption is blind to tribe, religion, region or political affiliation.
Deputy President William Ruto has downplayed reports that the heightened war on graft has been politicised in an apparent reference to claims by some of his lieutenants that he was being targeted.
The MPs, mostly from the Rift Valley and pastoralist communities, are reportedly plotting an all-out battle against selected members of President Kenyatta’s “kitchen cabinet.”
Speaking during a service at ACK St Peter’s Church in Nyali, Mombasa, Mr Ruto warned leaders bringing “politics and pettiness” into the ongoing fight on graft.
PETTINESS
He said the campaign was a government initiative that must be achieved. He added that the war must continue because “it has no sides and knows no politics. It is blind to tribe, religion, region or political affiliation.“We must not allow people to introduce small politics and pettiness into the drive to manage the resources and wealth of the republic of Kenya in the best interest of 45 million Kenyans,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Party will crack down on its members supporting senior government officials being investigated for graft.
ODM National chairman and Minority Leader in the National Assembly John Mbadi yesterday said the party supports the war on corruption and would not tolerate members who don’t.
TRIBALISE
“Any member from the opposition who is going to ethnicise or tribalise the war against corruption will be removed from all committees of Parliament,” warned Mr Mbadi (below).
Speaking at Wachara Catholic Church in Ndhiwa Constituency, Mr Mbadi said the opposition had for the past five years been calling on President Uhuru Kenyatta to use state agencies to fight corruption, but he had, so far, not done so.
“Now that he is using them to fight the vice, we should all support him because we would be naïve to begin fighting him,” said Mr Mbadi.
