Raila breaks silence on Ksh 51M loss at Kilifi County

The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) leader, Raila Odinga, has broken his silence on the alleged loss of Ksh 51 million at the County Government of Kilifi.

Speaking in Mombasa on Wednesday, November 23, Raila said that Kilifi Governor, Amason Kingi, should not be victimized on the case since he is the one who raised the issue and asked for a quick probe that has so far led to the recovery of Ksh 8 million.

“It is true that Kilifi County Government lost Ksh 51 million, but it is the governor who reported the loss leading to swift action that led to recovery of Ksh 8 million that was yet to be diverted to personal accounts,” said Odinga.

“This is what should be adopted by the national government because in most cases whenever we raise issues of corruption of loss of public money, the target is usually the whistle-blower instead of cracking down on the thieves.”

This is the first time that Raila has spoken on the matter that has elicited a barrage of criticism from the Coast leaders affiliated to Jubilee.

Led by Kilifi North MP, Gideon Mung’aro, the leaders questioned CORD’s silence on the matter accusing Kingi of abetting corruption in the county government.

Deputy President William Ruto over the weekend called on Governor Kingi to take responsibility over the scandal while urging the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to commence investigations proceedings against those involved.

Last week, Governor Kingi suspended 10 county government officials over the scandal after EACC linked county officials to the loss of the money.

He alleged that the money had been transfered to five companies: Makegra Supplies Limited, Zohali Services Limited, Kilingi Investment Company Limited, Leadership Edge Associates Limited and Daima One Enterprises promising to work on recovering it.

Council of Governors chair, Peter Munya, however, accused the government of working with criminal groups to siphon money from county governments.

He stated that IFMIS is prone to internal manipulation by individuals both at the national and county government levels leading to loss of taxpayers’ money.