On Monday, July 11, Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta traversed Nairobi County drumming up support for his handshake partner Raila Odinga’s 2022 presidential bid.
While urging the more than four million city dwellers to vote for the 2022 presidential front runner Raila Odinga, the Jubilee party leader said the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition government would jail thieves and corrupt politicians.
Uhuru, without mincing his words and in an apparent reference to UDA presidential flag bearer William Ruto, said the Raila-Karua ticket will not be as forgiving as he has been when it comes to the fight against corruption.
But speaking during a Kenya Kwanza Alliance political rally on Wednesday, July 13, William Ruto’s 2022 presidential running mate Rigathi Gachagua dismissed Uhuru’s claims that he could not fight corruption because he was forgiving.
Gachagua instead said the first in command could not fight corruption because his family members and close friends were the beneficiaries of corruption in his administration.
“Nimeona rais Uhuru Kenyatta akisema ati hakupigana na ufisadi kwa sababu alionea wafisadi huruma, hiyo ni uongo… wewe ulikataa kupigana na ufisadi kwa sababu wafisadi Kenya ni watu wa familia yako (I heard President Uhuru Kenyatta say that he did not fight corruption because he felt sorry for the corrupt, that is a lie… you refused to fight corruption because the corrupt Kenyans are members of your family,” Gachagua said.
Gachagua said President Uhuru’s sister Nyokabi Kenyatta was a major suspect in the Afya House scandal, a factor that hindered Uhuru from taking serious actions against the perpetrators.
In 2016, it was widely reported that President Uhuru’s sister and cousin were among the owners of companies suspected to have irregularly pocketed millions in the KSh 5.3 billion Afya House scam.
Uhuru’s sister Nyokabi Kenyatta Muthama and cousin Kathleen Kihanya, are the directors of a company that pocketed KSh 41 million in questionable payouts.
The outspoken Mathira MP also accused the president of shielding some of his friends like Jubilee Party vice chairman David Murathe who he claimed were at the center of theft of money meant to help handle the effects of Covid-19 in 2020-2021.
“You could not take action in 2019 because those who stole the Covid-19 funds were your close friends including Jubilee vice-chairman David Murathe,” Gachagua said.
