A gift purportedly given to Kisumu archbishop Rev. Philip Anyolo by Uhuru and Ruto has elicited a heated debate after Raila Odinga renewed his war of words with Ruto.
Mr Odinga’s while referring to Dr Ruto insisted that the gift, a vehicle — Mitsubishi Pajero — be returned to sender claiming that some people steal taxpayers’ money and carry it in sacks to churches.
Mr Raila further urged the religious institutions not to accept gifts from people who are “known to have stolen from taxpayers”.
“Some people are walking with money in sacks as Kenyans are feeling the pain of increased taxes and paying higher prices for basic commodities like cooking oil, bread and fuel,” he said.
Mr Odinga went on: “I hear them saying that they are investing in heaven. Kenyans should come out in the open and rebuke them.”
DP Ruto, in a terse post on his Twitter handle, in an apparent reference to Mr Odinga, accused him of deceit.
“The master of deceit as always is spewing desperate lies. The car gift was bought by Christian leaders including UK and myself at the request of the chair of Catholic MPs. Understandably empowering the church offends magicians (sic) and the evil spirits they worship. Shetani ashindwe (devil be defeated)!,” Dr Ruto tweeted on Sunday.
The master of deceit as always is spewing desperate lies. The car gift was bought by Christian leaders including UK and myself at the request of the chair of Catholic mps.Understandably Empowering the church offends magicians and the evil spirits they worship. Shetani ashindwe!— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) March 3, 2019
Mr Odinga was speaking at a funeral in Ugenya on Saturday where he also pointed out that the Pope insisted that the gift, a vehicle — Mitsubishi Pajero — be returned to sender,saying the church rejected the vehicle “because it was bought using dirty money”.
“The Pope insisted that the vehicle be returned. We should stand for the truth,” he said during the funeral of former chief Daudi Owino Olak in Lifunga Kobiero village, Ugenya Sub-County.
“Regrettably, the church entertains such gifts which are offered at the expense of development projects like roads and dams.”
But head of the Catholic Church, John Cardinal Njue, Sunday said he was not aware of Mr Odinga’s claims over the Pope’s directive to the Church.
“I am not aware of how the comments came about. I don’t know about claims that the Holy Pope directed the Church to return the gift,” the Cardinal told Nation by phone.
Archbishop Anyolo said the Catholic Church has channels of communication, adding that so far, they were not aware of the claims on the Pope’s directive.
“We have not received such a communication that we return the car. However, I wish to state that during my installation in January, I received two cars, but they don’t personally belong to me. They are property of the diocese,” the archbishop said.
He noted that he has been using a Prado V8 bought by Catholic faithful and had not used the one given by the DP “as it has not been registered.”
Archbishop Anyolo said that the vehicle was donated to him before the registration process started and to date, he had not used it.
Land grabber, When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging, otherwise as the Swahili saying goes, Siku ya kufa nyani, miti yote huteleza. You are dancing on slippery ground.— Ike Kenneth (@IkeOjuok) March 3, 2019