Cord
Leader Raila Odinga on Wednesday challenged Parliament to deal firmly with corruption allegations against members of the Public
Accounts Committee chaired by ODM secretary-general Ababu Namwamba.
While
declaring that he does not want to be dragged into parliamentary affairs, Mr
Odinga also turned the heat on key officials at the Office of the President who
are alleged to have paid bribes to members of the House committee, demanding
that they be investigated.
This
came as Mr Namwamba appeared before the National Assembly’s Powers and
Privileges Committee over the allegations, among them taking bribes, levelled
against him. He spent two hours with the committee chaired by Kuresoi North MP
Moses Cheboi.
Speaking
at Orange House, the Nairobi headquarters of the Orange Democratic Movement, Mr
Odinga said national agencies dealing with corruption should carry out proper
investigations into the allegations of extortion, bribery and collusion among
members of the powerful watchdog committee.
However,
he was categorical that the investigating agencies must not just focus on the
takers in the corruption allegations bedevilling one of Parliament’s most
powerful committees, but also the givers.
BOGGED
DOWN
Referring
to the allegations that have bogged down the Public Accounts Committee, Mr Odinga
said Parliament must assert itself on the matter and anti-corruption agencies
should carry out proper investigations.
“If
we talk about corruption there is a giver and there is a taker, why are we not
talking about the giver who is the Executive in this case?” he said, likening
the PAC case to people going after a dog that runs away with a bone dropped by
the person who stole the meat.
“The
thief is running away and you are concentrating on the dog,” he said.
Hansard
records of a PAC meeting held earlier this month show that Mr Namwamba claimed
Defence Principal Secretary Mutea Iringo had given Sh1.5 million to be shared
out among six members of the committee to expunge his name from a report
investigating confidential expenditure by the Office of the President.
Speaking
after appearing before the Cheboi committee on Wednesday, Mr Namwamba demanded
that the MPs who alleged that he had received money from the OP be made to
declare it publicly before the Privileges Committee.
He
said the first meeting with the committee investigating the conduct of the PAC
had been used to address “preliminary issues”. The meeting lasted two hours.
“The
normal order of things is that if you are supposed to respond to an allegation,
then whoever is alleging should allege first and then the committee is able to
frame whatever you’re supposed to respond to and then you come and respond,”
said Mr Namwamba. He is expected to appear before the committee again this
morning.
On
Wednesday, Mr Odinga — who was secretly recorded by the ODM secretary-general and is
likely to be called upon to appear before the Cheboi committee — said he had not
received any invitations with regard to the issues that have rocked PAC and he
did not want to interfere.
“Parliament
should decisively deal with corruption issues facing it. I have never condoned
corruption and will never do,” he said. “This issue must be dealt with
holistically.”
Mr
Odinga was speaking after receiving a report from the party’s disciplinary
committee on investigations into the attack on former ODM executive director Magerer Langat.
QUESTIONING
Sources
within Parliament have indicated that the Powers and Privileges Committee
intends to summon the former Prime Minister for questioning on a private
conversation between him and Mr Namwamba secretly taped by the Budalang’i MP in
which an MP admitted having received cash to influence contents of a PAC
report.
Mr
Odinga was, however, reluctant to speak more on the issue, saying he did not
want to interfere with issues of Parliament.
“I
am not talking about PAC. I have not received any invitation to appear before
Parliament. I want Parliament to deal with parliamentary issues, it’s for
parliamentarians, please leave me out,” he said.
Although
the House committee on Powers and Privileges is investigating the case, some
MPs want the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to take over the
investigations.
Homa
Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma has argued that Parliament cannot investigate itself
and faulted House Speaker Justin Muturi’s decision to refer the matter to the
committee.
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