After unsuccessful attempts to lure ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi into the Deputy President’s camp, the DP’s allies now want him investigated over Sh380 million loss at Mumias Sugar Company.
Sports CS Rashid Achesa, one of DP William Ruto’s pointmen in Western, on Friday urged the DCI and the EACC to carry out thorough investigations.
This comes as the battle for the Western vote bloc gains momentum. Ruto has made a number of trips to the region apparently to woo residents to back his 2022 presidential bid. Achesa and other Western leaders backing his bid have been pressuring Mudavadi and his Ford Kenya counterpart Moses Wetang’ula to join the fold.
Mudavadi has refused to play ball.He and other local leaders have dismissed Ruto’s visits as meaningless and told him to forget about the region’s support.
On Friday, Achesa accused Mudavadi of opposing the formation of a task force to look into the sugar industry crisis. It is chaired by Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri and Kakamega governor Wycliffe Oparanya.
Mudavadi wanted a commission of inquiry set up to unearth the rot at the company so culprits can be prosecuted.
But Achesa said Mudavadi fears the team will expose his shady dealings with the mill. He spoke at Navakholo Primary School during a football tournament organised by area MP Emmanuel Wangwe.
Mudavadi’s private secretary Kibisu Kabatesi dismissed Achesa’s claims as “wild yapping of a lapdog for the DP”.
“Someone calling for a judicial commission of inquiry can’t be seeking such a force as a shield. Such a claim can only come from a fool. Only an idiot can claim to have personally investigated a fraud and purport to order the DCI to collect evidence from him. He should instead be arrested for withholding and concealing evidence,” he said.
Kabatesi said Achesa cannot differentiate sums assured from premiums paid. He said the CS should be investigated for supplying air to Mumias Sugar and for the scandals in his ministry.
“He is an embarrassment and fraud to the Western region. His wild claims only confirm common knowledge that we have a CS for a functioning illiterate. He is unable to analyse fake figures he’s been given. He has no idea how insurance works,” Kabatesi said in a statement.
Calls and text messages for a comment on Achesa’s claims from the Mumias Sugar management went unanswered.
The firm was closed in April over inadequate raw materials. It is also reeling from debts running into billions. It owes commercial banks, the Kenya Revenue Authority and sugarcane farmers, among other creditors.
The once premier mill in East and Central Africa is currently producing ethanol using bagasse and molasses sourced from neighbouring mills.