• They say it was suspicious that it is only governors who are seen to be leaning towards Ruto who are being arrested and charged.
•Devolution is under threat ,soon counties will be closed, they assdrt
Image: COURTESY
Are pro-DP William Ruto governors and other backers being targeted in the graft war to weaken his support?
That's what some Ruto allies are saying, calling the arrests a witch-hunt. Ruto's allies have often said the graft war is unfair and selective .
At the weekend, furious leaders accused the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations ad the Director of Public Prosecutions of selective prosecutions, devoid of facts.
Senate Majority leader Kipchumba Murkomen said on Saturday it was suspicious that only governors seen to be leaning towards Ruto who are being arrested and charged.
Devolution is under threat, soon counties will be closed. Three governors told not to set foot in their offices. It's no joke. Devolution will be run from offices of the DCI and EACC.Senator Kipchumba Murkomen
Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu, Samburu Governor Moses Lenolkulal and Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko have all been arrested and charged in connection with alleged graft. They are forbidden by the courts from setting foot in their offices.
Murkomen, the Elgeyo Marakwet senator, was speaking in Baringo county during the annual goat auction. He said it's only a matter of time before devolution collapses.
“Devolution is under threat, soon counties will be closed. Three governors are being told not to set foot into their offices. It's no joke. Devolution will be run from the offices of the DCI and EACC, he said.
“Governors have been intimidated that if they don't toe the line in supporting BBI and the handshake they are arrested, charged and removed from office,” he added.
Turkana Governor Josphat Nanok called on President Uhuru to convene a summit to discuss the status of devolution in the wake of the governor's arrests.
“The last time a summit was called was when I was the chairman of the Council of Governors. It is more than15 months now yet the law stipulates that every year there must be two sittings of the summit. What is the problem? If you will not take care of the counties, we will reject that BBI,” he said.
Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei concurred with Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot who said, "The so-called war on corruption has been tailor-made to target supporters of the DP”.
Cheruiyot said the agenda of the Jubilee government after President Uhuru Kenyatta's handshake with ODM leader Raila Odinga is nothing less than undermining Ruto.
Ruto has made it clear he wants to succeed President Kenyatta.
“How can you bring people together if the work of county commissioners and the police is to target us because of our support for Ruto? We voted for the Jubilee government but if there are people who have been persecuted, they're people of the Rift Valley," Cheruiyot said.
He criticised the investigations into alleged corruption in the construction of Itare Dam in Nakuru county.
He said the DCI has already summoned Water and Sanitation CS Simon Chelugui, yet he was not in the office when the da's construction started.
“Our people have been branded thieves with the aim of removing them from office. Chelugui has been taken to the DCI for questioning over a dam whose construction started way before he was appointed to Cabinet,” Cheruiyot said.
He said the DCI and the DPP are pretending to fight corruption but the only governors they are going for are those allied to the DP.
Nowadays, the DP has no friends because if you are seen attending his meetings they will come for you and fabricate fake corruption charges, the Kericho senator said.
"The real thieves are those pretending to be supporting the so call BBI.”
Belgut MP Nelson Koech said the arrest and prosecution of suspended Treasury CS Henry Rotich and his PS Kimani Thuge were evidence of a "pure witch hunt”.
He urged President Kenyatta to protect civil servants from "fabricated corruption cases".
“Rotich and Thuge executed a Cabinet process. If you look at their charge sheets, nowhere has the DPP mentioned their involvement in loss or theft, not even of a shilling. If indeed the DCI and DPP were genuine, they should have then charged the entire Cabinet,” he said.
He said it was unfortunate that civil servants from "certain communities" were being pushed out of office and told the DPP and the DCI to be honest in their war on corruption.
DPP Noordin Haji has recently said they will not relent nor succumb to political pressure on their war against graft.
(Edited by V. Graham)