Senators yesterday clashed on the floor of the House over the ongoing corruption purge.
Deputy President William Ruto's name was dragged into the proceedings and his allies were quick to defend him.
Minority Leader James Orengo rattled a number of senators when he said no one was above the law and that if evidence pointed to the DP then he should face the consequences.
“Article 143 of the Constitution only gives immunity to the President. We have reached a situation where we have to call a spade a spade. The Jubilee administration should graduate from probing petty crime to grand corruption,” the Siaya Senator said.
He was contributing to an amendment motion to the ad hoc committee report on maize crisis in the country. The inter-ministerial committee on food security opened the door for importation of the commodity. Flooding of the market with cheap imports led to the indictment of top Cabinet secretaries Fred Matiang'i (Interior), Mwangi Kiunjuri (Agriculture) and Henry Rotich (Treasury) among others.
“The road for investigation is leading to one place. The Senate should rise to the occasion and follow evidence which points to a particular top office and individual that perpetuates corruption and immunity by virtue of power enjoyed,” Orengo said.
The DP’s allies shot back, claiming that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) were being used to smear the names of some people ahead of the 2022 elections.
Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen said the fight against corruption had been weaponised to fight some leaders.
“It is a political tool. You might find a way of dragging a certain politician to be there. If there is the worst form of campaign going on in this nation it is the fact that everybody wants to throw mud at another person in preparation for 2022,” he said.
Murkomen sought Deputy Speaker Kithure Kindiki’s intervention, questioning why Orengo had dragged Ruto's name into the corruption purge.
Orengo said: “I meant the words I used. If those words meant the DP I can’t help. If the shark is the DP lock him up."
