CORD leader Raila Odinga has challenged President Uhuru Kenyatta to take personal responsibility for the latest multiple-billion-shilling scandal in the government.
Raila told the President to emulate his Tanzania counterpart John Magufuli in fighting corruption.
Raila made his remarks in a late afternoon press conference at his Capitol Hill office on the subject of the Sh5.3 billion theft reported by internal auditors in the Ministry of Health.
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The latest corruption allegations result from a leaked draft audit report where the Ministry of Health’s internal auditor, Bernard Muchere, has queried suspicious expenditure amounting to more than Sh5 billion.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission and officials of the Kenya National Audit Office started investigations at the ministry headquarters yesterday.
Raila described the investigation as “a pure cover-up”, saying the internal audit report is enough evidence to jail the culprits.
“Noting will come out of the so-called investigations by the EACC. It is just but a cover-up. It will just be investigations on top of investigations and it will be done until the cows come home.”
Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu also held a press conference at his office yesterday.
He termed the internal audit a normal process every Cabinet Secretary initiates at the end of every financial year.
He said the leaked report did not include the ministry's response to the queries the draft report had raised.
The CS said the internal auditor was now compiling his final report and the ministry will release it to the public on Wednesday next week.
“We in the ministry expect to be held accountable. That is why I am here,” he said.
Dr Mailu also claimed he had invited the EACC, the DCI and the KENAO officials yesterday to investigate the ministry.
He was flanked by his Principal Secretary, Dr Nicholas Muraguri, who earlier apologised for having threatened a journalist.
The EACC deputy Chief Executive Officer, Michael Mubea, said the anti-graft agency will submit an interim report on investigations into the Sh5 billion scandal.
Mubea said that a team of detectives has been set up to trace and examine documents related to suspicious payments made by the Ministry of Health to various companies.
He disclosed the EACC has been investigating some of the payments at the Ministry of Health, but has been compelled to set up a team of investigators to probe the latest audit reports in the media.
“Kenyans will get an update on how far investigations have progressed within one week. We have met the Cabinet Secretary, who has agreed to [provide] all the documents for our perusal. We hope to get the documents either by end of today or latest tomorrow. Detectives will be looking at the documents and we assure the public that these investigations will not be delayed," Mubea said.
He dismissed reports that some of the documents related to companies adversely mentioned in the audit report were missing, saying the EACC has a way of obtaining such documents and are not at all worried.