CORD leaders slam President Uhuru Kenyatta’s over graft war

CORD leader Raila Odinga

The Opposition Friday slammed President Kenyatta’s speech — the public apology for past sins and the release of the high-profile secret list of public officials under probe for graft — as “hypocritical lamentations” meant to win public goodwill for the Jubilee administration in the face of immense pressure over the runaway corruption.

Addressing a news conference at the Capitol Hill Building in Upper Hill, Nairobi, CORD leaders said they “do not believe the President”.

They dismissed the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) as a “confused and compromised institution”, which had surrendered its operational independence to the President.

“We have serious objections to a supposedly independent anti-corruption agency that secretly submits a list of alleged corruption suspects to the President, which the President then proceeds to table in Parliament in limited copies available only to the two Speakers who are from his side of the coalition,” the CORD leaders said.

The statement issued on behalf of CORD principals Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetangula came against a backdrop of revelations that cabinet secretaries, principal secretaries, governors, parastatal bosses and Members of Parliament were named in the secret list that the President Kenyatta handed to the speakers of the two Houses after his speech to the bicameral House on Thursday afternoon.

“Elected and appointed leaders are being subjected to public lynching without being heard. That the President condones this illegality and connivance is an indication that he is willing to politicise corruption,” said Florence Mutua (Busia), who read the statement on behalf of the CORD leaders.

CORD questioned why some top leaders in the Jubilee Administration had not been named in the list, which is yet to be made public. The EACC chief executive quietly prepared the report and secretly handed it to the Head of State to reportedly show Kenyatta the rot in government.

“EACC is a confused and compromised institution that can no longer be trusted to fight corruption, it is instead, being used to fix political opponents of the Jubilee regime... We know that EACC is supposed to arraign suspects in court not to report them secretly to the President,” said the CORD leaders in their hard-hitting statement.

Raila is abroad; Mr Musyoka is bereaved, while Mr Wetang’ula was out of the city.

The leaders claimed that the prime suspects had been left out of the list yet their actions were in the public domain.

“The presidency is itself a leading suspect in the massive corruption scandals muzzling the nation. Top political leaders and technocrats have been linked to acts of bribery and collusion to defraud the public of money, land, playgrounds and procurement indecencies,” the CORD leaders said.

They pointed fingers at the ‘Sky team’ — as some of the main obvious suspects who are missing from the list.

“The war must begin within his own court and must bring down some of the very people who sit in counsel with him only to go out and grab public land, import maize and sugar,” the CORD trio said.

They were furious at the official condemnation of parliamentary committees – Public Accounts Committee and Agriculture Committee — and said that individuals must bear personal responsibility.

They pointed out the contradictions in Kenyatta’s speech, saying the public apology and the billions to victims of past transgressions ought to be followed with repossession of ill-gotten wealth.

“Instead of offering to repossess and return the land to the owners, investigate and prosecute past crimes like assassinations, historical injustices and disappearance, the president is offering to take public money to compensate victims while beneficiaries of corruptly and unjustly acquired wealth keep their loot,” said CORD leaders.

James Nyikal (Seme MP) said the president’s season for action had been overshadowed by colourful speeches and promises of action.

“I did not expect a President to name a list and take it to Parliament. I expected action – it is one thing to say people must step aside, it is another thing for those people to step aside. What this country needs to see is action, not speeches and reports. What we expect to see is those who are not in office, not a list of those who are being told to leave office,” said Dr Nyikal.