{"id":13282,"date":"2020-08-24T19:15:04","date_gmt":"2020-08-24T19:15:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/kenya\/?p=13282"},"modified":"2020-08-24T19:15:04","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T19:15:04","slug":"covid-19-funds-scam-raila-defends-odm-calls-for-audit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/covid-19-funds-scam-raila-defends-odm-calls-for-audit","title":{"rendered":"Covid-19 funds scam: Raila defends ODM, calls for audit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>AfricaPress-Kenya:<\/strong> ODM&#8217;s track-record in fighting corruption is firm, well documented and it will never support the vice in all its manifestations regardless of who is involved, the party&#8217;s leader Raila Odinga<strong>\u00a0(pictured above)\u00a0s<\/strong>ays.<\/p>\n<p>Raila&#8217;s statement this morning came in the wake of sentiments that his party was abetting the\u00a0Kenya Medical Supplies Agency\u00a0Covid-19\u00a0funds and protective equipment scandal.<\/p>\n<p>He said the Orange party had not reneged on the fight against corruption and had\u00a0a clear-cut approach against the vice and was recommending the same strategy to\u00a0the Jubilee government in the Kemsa probe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe position of the party in the current allegations of corruption in Covid-19 related resources is that the government needs to conduct a thorough and urgent audit of all the funds that have been put at the disposal of various state agencies, departments and ministries to fight the pandemic with a view to establishing the facts on the usage of such resources,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Odinga defended his party\u00a0citing past campaigns against the vice.\u00a0He cited the probe on the sale of Grand Regency Hotel, maize scams and the Anglo Leasing Scandal as some of the cases where the party waged war on the vice.<\/p>\n<p>He said: \u201cODM has always advocated this systematic approach to fighting corruption. In the Grand Coalition Government, the party successfully pushed for the systematic audit of the sale of Grand Regency Hotel and attendant consequences. ODM pushed for the systematic audit of Anglo Leasing Scandal by Kroll and Associates, leading to appropriate legal action on culprits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen the Maize Scandal erupted, ODM pushed for the appointment of Pricewater House Coopers to audit the matter, leading to appropriate action against culprits. A special audit also led to convictions in the Sh283 million Nairobi cemetery scam.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul class=\"list-group readmore my-3\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\"><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The former premier also touched on the National Youth Service scandal of 2016 and the Arror and Kimwarer scandal as the instances in which systemic coordinated investigations revealed the amounts of money Kenyans lost in the dubious deals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis approach has worked well in the recent past. In the case of Arror and Kimwarer dams, the truth was established when the Auditor-General conducted a special audit of the Sh60 billion dams whose procurement and financing had caused public outrage,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA similar approach worked with regard to the National Youth Service scam where, in 2016, the office of the Auditor General was able to establish that Kenyan taxpayers lost Sh1.9 billion in the scandal and proceeded to identify the principal beneficiaries of the theft. On the basis of that audit, suspects were arraigned in court.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Leaders trading barbs<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>He asked\u00a0politicians to stop venting their anger on social media\u00a0and to let the investigative agencies to probe the matter.<\/p>\n<p>His party came under fire after\u00a0secretary-general Edwin Sifuna issued a statement\u00a0terming reports on Kemsa scandal\u00a0sensationalised unsubstantiated.\u00a0 What ensued was a hard-hitting response from the Deputy President William Ruto accusing ODM leaders of a cover-up.\u00a0\u201cThe pretentious (former) opposition, now turned Lords of corruption, attempted defence of the Covid-19 grand larceny is not shocking.<\/p>\n<p>It confirms the worst of Kenyan\u2019s fears that their side of the handshake was never interested in the people\u2019s good but opportunity to loot. What a shame,\u201d he tweeted on Saturday.\u00a0But to this, Mr Odinga reacted: \u201cODM will not defend anyone, including members or relatives and friends of its officials, found to have benefitted from funds and other resources meant for fighting the coronavirus pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AfricaPress-Kenya: ODM&#8217;s track-record in fighting corruption is firm, well documented and it will never support the vice in all its manifestations regardless of who is involved, the party&#8217;s leader Raila Odinga\u00a0(pictured above)\u00a0says. Raila&#8217;s statement this morning came in the wake of sentiments that his party was abetting the\u00a0Kenya Medical Supplies Agency\u00a0Covid-19\u00a0funds and protective equipment scandal. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":8493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,12],"tags":[5271,5356,625,242],"class_list":["post-13282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-covid-19-funds","tag-kemsa-funds-scandal","tag-odm-party","tag-raila-odinga"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Covid-19 funds scam: Raila defends ODM, calls for audit - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/covid-19-funds-scam-raila-defends-odm-calls-for-audit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Covid-19 funds scam: Raila defends ODM, calls for audit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"AfricaPress-Kenya: ODM&#8217;s track-record in fighting corruption is firm, well documented and it will never support the vice in all its manifestations regardless of who is involved, the party&#8217;s leader Raila Odinga\u00a0(pictured above)\u00a0says. Raila&#8217;s statement this morning came in the wake of sentiments that his party was abetting the\u00a0Kenya Medical Supplies Agency\u00a0Covid-19\u00a0funds and protective equipment scandal. 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Raila&#8217;s statement this morning came in the wake of sentiments that his party was abetting the\u00a0Kenya Medical Supplies Agency\u00a0Covid-19\u00a0funds and protective equipment scandal. 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