Jubilee leaders want Raila investigated for extortion

Jubilee Party leaders have delved into the ongoing wrangles pitting opposition leader Raila Odinga and his close allies and the Dominion Farms.

Dominion Farms Chief executive Officer, Calvin Burgess, recently hit media headlines after accusing Mr Odinga and his political cronies of frustrating his business by attempting to extort money from him.

The leaders, on their part, accused the American investors who own rice plantations in the Yala Swamps of deviating from the initial agreement in which he was also to invest in education, roads and health services in the area.

Jubilee politicians, led by party head of secretariat Raphael Tuju, are now calling on the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to investigate Raila Odinga on bribery allegations raised by Burgess.

Tuju said that Raila’s interference in the Dominion Farms jeopardizes employment of more than 500 youths directly employed by the company and an additional 2000 seasonal jobs.

The Jubilee party head further claimed activities regarded as extortion in the Nyanza region have cost the area in terms of investment and development.

“Extortion rings in Nyanza feed into an already bad situation facing this part of the country that is easily profiled as hostile to investors,” said Tuju.

Tuju linked Mr Odinga to disruption of a press conference called by Mr Burgess by ‘goons’, challenging him (Raila) to come out clean on the allegations.

The Jubilee Party Head of Secretariat insisted that Burgess should be allowed an opportunity to shed light on the situation.

Tuju also wants the EACC to investigate corruption in counties headed by CORD governors, alleging that Raila has being collecting bribes from the governors.

“Similar corrupt deals are written all over ODM controlled counties including colossal amounts of money spent on trips abroad ostensibly to woo foreign investors,” he said.