• The President has talked enough, it is time for him to act, say leaders.
• Former Jubilee party vice-chairman David Murathe said they were fully behind the government’s war on graft and wanted suspects behind bars.
Image: ALICE WAITHERA
Some Jubilee and ODM leaders have piled pressure on President Uhuru Kenyatta to have graft suspects arrested and stop issuing threats.
The MPs have said the President has talked enough about the actions the government intends to take to curtail graft. It was time for implementation, they said.
The over 20 leaders spoke at Gatura Catholic Church in Gatanga constituency on Sunday.
Former Jubilee party vice-chairman David Murathe said they were fully behind the government’s war on graft and wanted suspects behind bars.
Murathe said, “I recently talked to the President and asked him why he has been talking too much about corruption and why we have not seen any action taken. He told me to wait just a little bit longer.”
This, he said, is in line with what the President recently said that he would ensure suspects, whether brother, sister or a closest political ally, are arrested.
He said in some countries even presidents are jailed for being corrupt. He gave the example of South Korea who two former Presidents are in jail for graft-related offences committed during their tenures.
I don’t know what Uhuru meant when he talked about his closest political ally but your guess is as good as mine.Former Jubilee party vice-chairman David Murathe
Murathe said if MPs affiliated to Deputy President William Ruto's Tanga Tanga movement, (he cited Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu), want to support a thief, it is their democratic right but they should know that even in the Bible, people called for the release of a thief instead of Jesus.
Nominated MP Maina Kamanda criticised Tanga Tanga MPs for sponsoring a bill in Parliament to curtail the DPP's and DCI’s powers in the fight against corruption.
“We will not allow it to go through Parliament. The two departments should even be given more powers to enable them to work efficiently,” Kamanda said.
“We know they are not the ones who have drafted the Bill and are only being used to get it through Parliament,” he added.
Homa Bay Woman Representative Gladys Wanga said MPs will shoot down the bill.
She said leaders affiliated to Ruto are misguided to think that handshake politics is about 2022 succession.
The handshake, she stressed, has restored sanity in the country. She added that the DCI and DPP should not be intimidated.
Former presidential candidate Peter Kenneth urged the President to relentlessly fight graft and protect the agencies charged with the responsibility of investigating and prosecuting graft suspects.
It is unfortunate, he said, for an MP to table a bill allowing only one government agency to fight graft when all agencies should be involved, Kenneth said and called for all graft suspects to be denied bail and bond in court.
“When released, it gives them a chance to interfere with their cases,” he said.
Area MP Joseph Nduati echoed Kenneth’s sentiments, saying it is time for Kenyans to see people being jailed over graft.