ODM still checking Jubilee, only circumstances changed - Mbadi

ODM will not defend anyone implicated in the Kemsa scandal, the party chairman said on Tuesday.

National Assembly Minority Leader John Mbadi said the party will still carry out its responsibility of checking the government.

The Suba South MP, whose party has been taking the heat over the suspected loss of Covid-19 funds, said their sentiments must not be mistaken for compromise in the fight against corruption.

The lawmaker said ODM remains the minority side and only circumstances have changed.

"We used to rely on unconventional means to obtain information, being whistleblowers, social media...and we could bring out issues of accountability," he said.

"We can now get information from credible state entities EACC, DCI and the Auditor General. We still have responsibility to fight corruption," Mbadi said.

The lawmaker said anyone who would imagine that ODM will condone corruption is daydreaming.

"We did not defend former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero, Governor Okoth Obado and MP Babu Owino. ODM will not defend anyone involved in the issues of Kemsa," the lawmaker said.

Mbadi said those who investigations will implicate in the malfeasance will be on their own.

"Let them know that it is immoral, unethical to make money when Kenyans are dying," the MP said.

He spoke on Tuesday at the start of the Third Leadership Retreat of the National Assembly in Nairobi.

ODM has found itself in unfamiliar territory and has gone into firefighting mode following allegations that it is part of a massive cover-up of the alleged looting of Covid-19 billions.

The party has been rocked by internal disquiet since last Saturday after it released a statement that appeared to downplay apparent, widely reported theft.

It accused the media of engaging in a “sensationalist extravaganza with half-baked information".