Jubilee Leadership is Aiding and Abetting Grand Corruption

To be corrupt or not to be corrupt; that is the question the Kenyan people are today posing to President Uhuru Kenyatta. 

In 2006, during the tenure of the ninth Parliament, Uhuru Kenyatta served as the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee. This same PAC conducted an investigation into the Anglo Leasing Scandal to do with the procurement of a forensic lab for our police force. The committee found Mr Deepak Khamani and Mr Anura Pereira culpable as the main architects behind this scheme to defraud the Kenyan people.

On March 28th, 2009, as Chairman of this Committee, Uhuru Kenyatta named these two individuals and gave a sixty day ultimatum to the government of the day to respond to the findings of his report. Again, in 2009, Uhuru Kenyatta served as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. He reiterated the commitment of the Treasury not to honor any of the controversial Anglo Leasing related promissory notes then valued at Kshs 270 million. He even went as far as publishing a tax-payer funded advertisement on Friday, February 27th, 2009, in the local papers reaffirming his resolve to deal with the issue of Anglo Leasing conclusively.

Eight years later, Uhuru Kenyatta is President, those responsible for these economic crimes are known and yet Kenyans are STILL waiting for answers to the Anglo Fleecing question from the Jubilee Government. Instead of out rightly rejecting the move to pay these briefcase companies for goods that were never supplied, President Kenyatta has gone back on every promise his Jubilee Government made to the Kenyan people on the issue of corruption.

Jubilee continues to push ahead with this nefarious plot to pay KShs 112 billion shillings of Kenyan tax payers’ hard earned money for services NOT RENDERED.

 Furthermore, as CORD, we strongly disagree with the assertion by the Attorney General Githu Muigai, that Kenya is legally bound to make these payments. Any lawyer worth his salt will tell you that any contract is rendered invalid in the event of fraud by any of the parties involved. The companies behind this scandal defrauded the Kenyan people. Jubilee should spend more time exploring this angle as opposed to rushing to recklessly pay the monies.

We, the Kenyan people, therefore CANNOT pay and WILL not pay. Our hospitals are already short of medicine, our youth are lamenting under the burden of unemployment, our homes are under threat from insecurity; we cannot afford to humor the personal projects of the Jubilee Principals - The President and his laptops and his Deputy with his national registration.

If Jubilee insists in going ahead with this economic onslaught on the Kenyan people, we as CORD will file a motion of no confidence in the government of President Uhuru Kenyatta in order that we may protect the Kenyan tax payer from further suffering.

In addition to this, we call upon the Attorney General to declare any interest he may have in the Anglo Leasing matter for the sake of transparency.

We also expect the Government to clear any lingering doubts surrounding the peculiar coincidence that sees the figure of the proposed Eurobond coincide exactly with that of the Anglo Leasing payments.

Wednesday, April 30th, 2014.

Jubilee Government Leading Assault on Rule of Law - Raila Odinga

By Rt. Hon Raila Odinga

Developments around the quick impeachment and then reinstatement of the Governor of the County of Embu Martin Wambora, and now the support of Parliament by the President of the Republic of Kenya against the Judiciary, indicate that the rule of law in Kenya is in tatters.

Kenya is going through a willful, premeditated, deliberate and shameless corruption of the system of justice, with the highest ranks of the Jubilee government supporting this assault on law and order.

We are witnessing unilateral and illegal decisions and statements that show disregard for the separation of powers and a taste for the old ways in which the Judiciary was an extension of the presidency and a tool of the ruling political elite.

It is a continuation of the pattern I warned of in November 2013, that the Jubilee government is determined to bring an end to all autonomous institutions in the country.

A pattern of a return to repression is taking shape. What is being attempted currently is to establish a country of presidential and legislative tyranny, and where no other institution in and out of the government will be allowed a voice.

It is unfortunate that the presidency has now explicitly and publicly endorsed this charade. I don’t agree that the Judiciary is seeking refuge in the doctrine of Separation of Powers.

I believe the alternative to adherence to this doctrine is the law of the jungle where one person can purport to perform the functions of president, judge and parliament at the same time. That is what is called a dictatorship.

I agree that the Judiciary alone cannot serve Kenyans. Neither can the Executive nor the legislature.

But the order of service to Kenyans by these institutions is clearly captured in the doctrine of Separation of Powers and it must be accepted and respected by all.

The understanding among all nations that aspire to democracy is that the Legislature makes the law, the Judiciary interprets the law and the Executive executes the law.

Once Parliament makes a law, the only option for citizens unhappy with it is to go to court. Once the court interprets the law, it is final. The only option is execution.

We are entering a dangerous terrain and I am appealing to the President of Kenya and all the arms of government to decide whether we are going to be governed by the Rule of Law or the law of the jungle. That is why I want to appeal for an immediate end to the mob lynching of the courts.The Court issued an injunction against the impeachment of Governor Wambora until the case he filed was heard and determined.

Mr Wambora had gone to court because he felt his right to be heard and to a fair trial had been breached. Both Houses of Parliament were served with court orders. That order was ignored.

The court last week barred the Senate from summoning governors who had sought an interpretation of the law on the powers of the senators over governors.

The two houses of Parliament have joined ranks in their condemnation of the Judiciary and they have now secured the support of the President.

This is a mob lynching of the court and a shameful display of arrogance to the rule of law by the very people who swore to uphold it. It must stop. We must keep our hands off our courts.

Late last year, we had a case of the President dissolving the Judicial Service Commission and appointing a commission of inquiry to investigate the conduct of members, despite a court order against the process.

The Aron Ringera-led inquiry failed to take off because it needed to be sworn in by the very Judiciary it intended to investigate. Chief Justice Willy Mutunga declined to swear it in.

The National Assembly however proceeded to summon members of the JSC in disregard of the principle of Separation of Powers and the desired independence of the Judiciary. That is how closely we are flirting with the law of the jungle.

We are witnessing the obstruction of justice, which the President and the entire government have sworn the most solemn oath to uphold. These actions are a blatant disregard for judicial independence, and deprive Kenya of its only buffer against chaos.

Last year, we in Cord went to court to challenge the election results. We still maintain that we never got a fair hearing. But we accepted the verdict because the alternative was chaos. If we want the rule of law, we must keep our hands off the courts. The president must take the lead.

The writer is CORD Leader and former Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya

CORD Urges Government to Suspend VAT Act and Address Rising Cost of Living

The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy is urging the Government to suspend the VAT Act until key issues therein are addressed.

CORD has stated that if the issues, to do with the rising cost of living, are not addressed then we will introduce amendments once the National Assembly resumes sittings next Tuesday.

ODM Executive Director Hon Magerer Langat explained that a joint Parliamentary Group of CORD affiliated Senators and MPs will meet at the Party's Secretariat next Monday to strategize on how to tackle the issue of the rising prices affecting ordinary Kenyans.

The Coalition is expected to take a collective approach on the VAT issue. CORD's top leadership feels that the law cannot continue to be applied in its current form. The proposed amendment is meant to cushion basic consumer goods that were previously not subject to VAT such as milk, cooking flour, bread and sanitary towels. CORD will seek a reduction from the current 16 percent to 10 percent.

Raila Odinga Turns Down Government Diplomatic Job Offer

HANDSHAKE: President Uhuru and Raila Odinga

Raila Odinga yesterday politely declined an offer by the Jubilee Government to work as an envoy explaining that his “plate is full.” Mr. Odinga said his focus is to strengthen the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD).

Raila Odinga later on urged those still sympathising with him for losing the presidency, to stop. Speaking in Khwisero constituency on Saturday during the burial of Mama Ellena Andayi, 93, mother to area lawmaker Benjamin Andola, Mr. Odinga said he was ready to soldier on despite losing the Presidency, adding he would re-organise his house.

“Do not tell me sorry for what happened, I do not wish to hear this. When a cooking stick breaks, do you stop preparing your meal? Certainly not! And that is why we want to state that we have enough work to do,” said Raila Odinga.

The meeting yesterday was important to show the people that there is no animosity between the Government and CORD. However, Raila Odinga is firmly in the opposition trenches ready to ensure services are delivered as promised to Kenyans.