William Ruto’s allies have launched a scathing attack on President Uhuru Kenyatta’s family. The DP’s allies came up with a litany of damning allegations touching on Uhuru’s family by claiming the head of state influenced awarding of Jubilee Party campaign tenders to his kins during the 2017 General Election.
In a report by the Daily Nation on May 3, the Tanga Tanga allied politicians claimed Bora Ubora Limited was awarded tender to supply Jubilee Party with branded T-shirts, caps and other merchandise KSh 361 million in 2017.
Its owners, they claimed, include President Kenyatta’s niece Nana Gecaga, who is a sister of Jomo Gecaga, the president’s personal assistant, and the chief executive officer of Kenyatta International Convention Centre.
The report alleged Gecaga, her brother Jomo and one Selina Renee Pratt were pressuring party officials to pay the company and in some instances even without full documents.
Pratt is also President Kenyatta’s niece. Following the revelation of the transactions, the Ruto’s camp said the Jubilee Party was among several parties that had not filed their annual returns as required by law.
They accused party secretary-general, Raphael Tuju, of mismanaging the party procurement and finance affairs in favour of the president’s kins.
Reached for comment, Tuju dismissed the allegations saying the party adhered to Public Procurement and Disposal Act in all its transactions with suppliers. “We receive funds from the government and therefore have to follow the law…We even advertised for supplies,” said Tuju.
However, his claims were dismissed by his deputy, Caleb Kositany, who argued while Political Parties Act demands the publishing of annual reports, there was evidence his own party had disobeyed the law.
“We receive public funding from the Political Parties Fund, and as such we ought to file our annual audited returns,” he said.
Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wah who is also chairman of the National Assembly Budget Appropriations committee said Jubilee Party had not complied with the law even in regard to the tabling of audited accounts to show how party resources were utilised.
“Tuju seems to have missed that simple fact that they are public institutions to enhance the growth of our democracy and are funded by taxpayers. In this year alone, we have appropriated close to KSh 1 billion — KSh 800 million, to be precise — to fund the parliamentary political parties.
They have not complied with the law even in regard to the tabling of audited accounts to show how party resources are utilised, and there is evidence that these resources have been abused to benefit a few individuals,” said Ichung’wah.
The revelations on the shoddy tenders at the ruling party emerged after Tuju officially published changes made to the outfit’s National Management Committee (NMC) despite protests from the deputy president and his allies.
On Friday, May 1, Ruto reportedly called a clique of his foot soldiers for a brainstorming session on their next course of action.
The team reportedly opted to expose the party and paint its leader and his community as people who could not be trusted in the exchange of power.
They also deliberated on moving to court to stop the party changes and challenge the questionable party dealings.
