Jubilee MPs want investigations into graft allegations facing Raila Odinga
In 2012, Miguna Miguna also accused Raila of corruption deals while he was a prime minister. The jubilee fraternity now wants a thorough investigation into the allegations.
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Speaking during a radio interview Sunday evening, Ichung’wa has demanded a prompt investigation into the allegations raised by the investor, adding that the former premier has been selective in the fight against graft.
“Raila is chasing away investors. The guy [Dominion Farms CEO Calvin Burgess] should go to the Ethics and Anticorruption and report the matter so that the investigations can begin as immediately as possible,” said Ichung’wa.
Earlier, an American investor Calvin Burgess claimed that Cord leader Raila Odinga and some of his family members have been piling pressure on him to give him a kickback and fund his presidential campaigns.
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Addressing the media on Sunday, Jubilee Party challenged CORD leader Raila Odinga to respond to claims that he had extorted campaign money from the investor Calvin Burgess.
Head of the Jubilee Party Secretariat Raphael Tuju and Majority leader Aden Duale asked the investigating and prosecuting agencies in the country to examine the allegations made by Burgess.
“We don’t want the sidekicks to speak. No, no, no, we want the Grand Ayatollah to speak. And the Grand Ayatollah in this case is none other than the former Prime Minister,” Duale said.
Blame game
Duale has accused Rail of his readiness to speak ill of the Jubilee administration of the corruption, but selectivity doing so for Cord dominated counties. He added that Raila was known for his “swift and loud to speak character” but wondered why he had remained mum about the allegations made by Burgess.
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“Raila Odinga the way he calls press conferences in his house, at his office in Upper Hill, we want him to call a press conference and clear the air,” he said.
Tuju asked Raila and his ‘sidekicks’ to explain how Sh105 million was paid to a ‘shady Indian company’ by the name Godavari Enterprises under the guise that it would conduct a feasibility study “but instead the money was pocketed by ODM ‘luminaries’”, he said.
They both asked the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to investigate allegations made by Burgess.
“This must be a country of laws in all its entirety and not to have enclaves where some people are a government unto themselves extorting money from business and investors and employing ‘thuggery’ on anyone who disagrees with them,” Tuju stated.
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Threats of eviction
Duale also argued that the Lands Parliamentary committee had summoned Burgess to appear to explain his alleged frustrations by Odinga, his family and party members.
“Burgess should also be accorded the opportunity, protection and immunity to make a statement before a parliamentary committee, EACC and CID,” Tuju said.
Burgess who is the Chief Executive Officer of Dominion Farms in Siaya, in a 22-page document accused Odinga and his political associates of extorting campaign money from him.
He complained that Odinga and his associates had frustrated his business through violence, eviction threats and extortion after he refused to fund his party’s campaigns in 2013, and argues that the same is reappearing in 2017.
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Miguna’s 2013 onslaught
In 2012 during the presidential campaigns, Miguna Miguna who is now vying for the Nairobi gubernatorial seat , in his book Pooling Back the Mask, he alleged that Raila was not fit to hold a public office, owing to his kickback deals.
Raila rubbished these claims from his former office aide, adding that the move by his former aide was a political gimmick from his opponents.
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