ODM leaders want Rotich charged over dams scandal
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They also want President Uhuru Kenyatta to reassure the country that he is still committed to the war on corruption.
A section of Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leaders have called for Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich to be charged with the loss of Sh21 billion tax payers money in dam projects scandal.
The lawmakers have called on Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) George Kinoti and Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji to hasten their investigations.
"We want to urge DCI to gather enough evidence to take Rotich to court. We want him to be arraigned," said Alego Usonga MP Samuel Atandi.
They also want President Uhuru Kenyatta to reassure the country that he is still committed to the war on corruption.
"We are behind the DPP and DCI in their efforts and let them not be cowed by the threats from (Deputy President William) Ruto's wing," he said.
ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna warned against politicising and ethnicising the war on corruption, saying that every individual should carry his or her own cross.
"War on corruption should not be ethinicised. No community is targeted. When former Governor Evans Kidero was arrested…we never hid behind tribes. We told them to go to court and let justice take its course," said Mr Sifuna.
The MPs were speaking during a fundraiser at St Teresa Secondary School in Mlango Kubwa, Mathare Constituency.
ROTICH DEFENCE
But Mr Rotich has distanced himself from the controversial tendering processes for the two dams that saw phantom companies paid Sh21 billion during his questioning last week.
Mr Rotich, through his lawyer Katwa Kigen, maintained that the he had nothing to do with the tendering processes that led to the payments as they were handled by the respective line ministries and agencies.
“Issues of procurement and awarding are all done by the procuring entity, supervised by their line ministries. These processes do not involve CS Treasury. The CS was asked (the questions) and he gave the above reply,” Mr Kigen stated.
Mr Haji had noted that preliminary investigations had established that a large number of government officials were involved in the scandal.
He added that the investigators drawn from the DCI and prosecutors from the DPP’s office are looking at the entire tendering process, the awarding of tenders without project designs, attempts to manufacture designs after the fact and failure to secure any of the land required for the projects.
