Ruto Campaign Funders Rewarded With Gov’t Positions Are Now Recouping Their Money – Ekuru Aukot
Thirdway Alliance Party Leader Ekuru Aukot has linked the rampant theft of public money in government to the individuals who funded President William Ruto’s 2022 presidential campaign.
In Aukot’s view, those who helped the president sustain his campaign trails in the run-up to the 2022 General Elections were eventually rewarded with plump positions in government and are now recouping their money.
“We all know William Ruto’s campaign was funded by individuals or cartels because he speaks of cartels but he doesn’t tell us of these cartels,” said Aukot.
“The truth of the matter is, and they may not want to be honest about this, those individuals had to be rewarded by positions in government and what they are doing [is that] they are now recouping their money back.”
The lawyer was speaking on Citizen TV’s Daybreak show on Thursday.
Aukot further argued that despite the president’s public declarations on committing to combat graft, he is also entangled in the melee because he might be aware of the individuals behind the recent scandals.
“That is why, even in the State of the Nation address, the President never addressed the question of corruption,” Aukot argued.
“We have seen a lot of theft happening, we’ve seen a lot of largesse in government, money being spent that we do not even have. He also said that he will not borrow and in the one year of Ruto in government, he has borrowed exponentially compared to other governments.”
He expressed his fears of a possible economic collapse in the nation if the government fails to put its house in order.
“Where are we headed as a country? Things are bad…we can pretend about it but things are bad.”
Big scandals.
This comes in the wake of a Ksh.16.5 billion edible oils scandal which revealed that companies owned by people with links to the government were single-sourced to procure edible oils through the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC).
Among the companies awarded the local purchase order was: Shehena Trading Commodity Limited, 100% owned by Invest Africa – FZCO, a company registered in a Dubai free zone, headed by Wilfred Saroni, who was said to be a close associate of Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria.
Another company is Multi Commerce FZC, a company registered in a Dubai free zone that is reportedly owned by a prominent businessman associated with a major new mall in Eastleigh.
KNTC boss Pamela Mutua has so far been grilled by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) alongside other senior state officials.
Those who might be summoned for questioning include the then Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Trade Moses Kuria and Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung’u.
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Another ongoing scandal involves businesswoman Ann Njeri Njoroge, the main suspect in a contentious Ksh.17 billion fuel deal.
Despite the government distancing itself from allegations that they funded Njeri to import the fuel, it remains unclear why CS Ndung’u, in a past gazette notice dated July 13, 2023, authorized the withdrawal of Ksh.17.2 billion from the Consolidated Fund to subsidize a ‘private enterprise.’
What raises more questions, is the subsequent abduction of the businesswoman after reporting to Energy CS Davis Chirchir about the matter and the failure of the investigative agencies to address the accusations of kidnapping and holding Njeri incommunicado.
Legislators led by Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah have alleged that Njeri is being used as collateral and top government officers are the main beneficiaries in the scandal.
A probe is underway to shed light on how Njeri shared a dancefloor with the “oil billionaires”.
Ruto Campaign Funders Rewarded With Gov’t Positions Are Now Recouping Their Money – Ekuru Aukot
