COURTESY /THE STAR NEWSPAPER
Cord leaders have dared Jubilee government to arrest Cord leader Raila Odinga over the Eurobond funds saga.
Homa Bay women Representative Gladys Wanga, Kisumu Governor Jack Ranguma, Kisumu East MP Shakeel Shabir and Kondele MCA Gabriel Ochieng told EACC to drop the threat.
Wanga said Raila should be protected as a whistle blower instead of being compelled to record a statement over the alleged loss of Sh140 billion Eurobond fund.
She said Kenya cannot afford to be taken back to dark Kanu days where people were not allowed to question the government.
She said the opposition is simply playing their oversight role in the fight against corruption and therefore should not be intimidated.
“We will not allow the government to criminalise the opposition for carrying out their oversight mandate,” Wanga said.
She added that Cord will not allow Raila to be intimidated by people who lack capacity to carry out any investigation.
Addressing a press conference in Kisumu town, she said EACC as currently constituted cannot legitimately probe the controversial Eurobond.
Wanga said Raila is an institution with more than six million supporters hence should not be intimidated for questioning the loss of monies.
She told President Uhuru Kenyatta to come out and fight rampant corruption in his government instead of focusing on Raila.
"If you cannot sustain the heat in the kitchen then come out and let those who can to run the government. President Uhuru should stop diverting attention from Eurobond saga by issuing summons or arrest threats to a whistle-blower," Wanga said.
Speaking during Jamhuri Day celebration in Kisumu, Shabir said Treasury CS Henry Rotich and his PS Kamau Thugge should explain to Kenyans how the entire Eurobond monies were handled.
Ranguma asked the government to exercise tolerance and fair criticism in handling corruption matters by protecting whistle-blowers.
He faulted Deputy President William Ruto over his remarks that the opposition criticism is only aimed at scaring away investors.
He termed the statement by Ruto as irresponsible and regrettable, moreso from a leader of his calibre.
"Ruto should not brand the opposition as saboteurs just because they are seeking the truth on behalf of Kenyans," Ranguma said.
Ochieng noted that the country’s economy is suffering at the expense of those stealing public resources. The MCA said attempt to arrest Raila will be resisted at all cost warning unspecified action should officers take the Cord leader into custody.
Raila has accused the National Treasury of cooking their books of account to hide the missing Sh 140 billion.
He said Cord’s repeated request to Treasury with regard to the missing monies is in good faith, but which has been met by contradictory statements from officials and accounts that still do not add up.
Raila insisted that the accounts still don’t balance despite all the apparently feverish massaging by civil servants.
This follows a summons by the EACC for the Cord leader to report to the Commission's offices on Monday failure to which he will be liable for prosecution.
On Thursday, two CID officers and two forensic investigators from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission went to Raila’s Capitol Hill office to serve him with summons.
Raila has claimed for weeks that the government lost Sh140 billion of the Eurobond’s proceeds, prompting an investigations order by Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko.
He declined to appear at Integrity Centre, with his lawyers including Moses Wetang’ula, James Orengo, Tom Kajwang’ and Paul Mwangi dismissed the threat and summons, saying Raila was protected as a whistleblower by law.
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