Suspended Land Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu at a Milimani court on July 13, 2015. Ms Ngilu has once again accused President Kenyatta of applying double standards in regard to the fight against corruption. FILE PHOTO | PAUL WAWERU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
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Suspended Land Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu has once again accused President Kenyatta of applying double standards in regard to the fight against corruption.
Ms Ngilu said the President’s failure to suspend embattled Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru in the wake of serious graft allegations in her docket had exposed the country to ridicule.
“Our reputation as a country is now at stake and Kenyans have lost faith in government’s commitment to fight corruption because the double standards and lack of political will are clear for everyone to see,” she said.
She said with the recent revelations of damning procurement irregularities at the Devolution ministry dating back two years ago, one wonders why Ms Waiguru’s name was not in the list of the 175 public officers who were suspended.
The suspended CS said she had realised that in Jubilee, there are untouchables like Ms Waiguru and others like herself who are left to suffer public humiliation.
“This makes a mockery of the cases some of us are facing in court. It’s shameful because Kenya has become the laughing stock in the region,” she said in a telephone interview with the Sunday Nation.
“I believe in equal administration of justice but it is now clear that, even within the Cabinet, some ministers are more equal than others.”
“I know the government’s code of ethics prohibits cabinet secretaries from discussing such matters in public but I can’t keep quiet when things are getting out of hand. All i’m asking for is fairness not favouritism,” she said.
NGILU'S CONFIDENCE
She said her prosecution on allegations of obstructing justice by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission was not sufficient basis for her suspension, adding that she is confident her case will collapse since no single cent was lost under her watch at Ardhi House.
She said her prosecution on allegations of obstructing justice by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission was not sufficient basis for her suspension, adding that she is confident her case will collapse since no single cent was lost under her watch at Ardhi House.
Mrs Ngilu, who has kept a low profile since her suspension from the Cabinet in March, claimed that “the anti-graft agency is working at the behest of certain powerful individuals determined to nail me at whatever cost”.
“EACC did investigations for weeks but failed to get any evidence linking me to corruption in my ministry but because they had to ensure that I am prosecuted to justify my suspension, they pressed funny charges against me,” she said.
“I went round the country vigorously campaigning for Jubilee but what is happening today is something I never imagined could happen,” she said.
She spoke as Nyeri Town MP Esther Murugi said she has no apologies to make for asking the President to sack Ms Waiguru.
“I have no personal beef with Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru but all I’m asking is for her to step aside like the other CSs and allow investigations to be carried out,” she said.
“There is no way you can be the whistle blower and then, after a few days, a huge sum of money gets stolen without her knowledge. Something is just not right here.”
“I don’t think there is any female legislator who campaigned for President Kenyatta as I did. I spent a lot of my time and money asking Kenyans to elect him as well as praying for him so that his ICC case could end. How, then, would I not like something good for him?” she said.
Ms Murugi described Ms Waiguru as hardworking but added that she should not be too busy to allow theft in her house.
She said: “It will be very unfair for the five suspended CSs if the President will retain Ms Waiguru in his Cabinet.”
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