Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and his Amani National Congress counterpart Musalia Mudavadi have clashed with Deputy President William Ruto over the fight against corruption.
Speaking during the launch of the Lenten campaign at Our Lady of Consolata in Nyeri town, Dr Ruto insisted that the fight against corruption has been politicised through exaggerated figures on projects with an aim of profiling specific leaders for political gain in the next elections and interfering with the implementation of the Big Four Agenda
“But as a government, we will not allow people to taint projects for political reasons. The fight against graft must be on the basis of accurate information and solid evidence,” he insisted.
Dr Ruto said that the war against graft had become a tool for politicising government projects to scare away development partners.
This, he said, will result in stalled projects and consequently paint a picture of a dishonest government that had failed to fulfil its promise.
“There are people plotting on how they will give false information for newspaper headlines and use it for political campaigns down the road. Instead of taking matters to courts, they are taking those discussions to the newsroom,” he claimed.
‘POCKET CHANGE’
The DP said that the dam projects across the country will continue as the government had put in place measures to ensure that public money is not lost. His talk followed claims that government paid for work not done in Arror and Kimwarer dam projects in Elgeyo-Marakwet County.
But Mr Musyoka insisted that corruption suspects must be shamed as Kenyans were tired of the government treating lost funds as “pocket change.”
“If we win this war against corruption, this country will not be the same again. If someone is a thief, we have no other name for it,” he said.
The former vice-president warned leaders against waging war against Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) George Kinoti and the media, which he said was doing a good job in informing the public.
“Without the media, Kenyans would not know what they know now. When the newspapers point out who is stealing public money, we should not stop there,” he said.
Mr Mudavadi also insisted that those mentioned in corrupt dealings must be arrested and prosecuted to end impunity.
“The Archbishop talked about moving beyond handshakes to heart shakes but he forgot that in the middle, we have handcuffs. We must work together to fight corruption,” said Mr Mudavadi.