Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has hit out at politicians who instead of giving investigative bodies on the forefront of the corruption war ample time to do their work, are busy politicizing graft. Speaking at the 6th annual Devolution conference, Raila said some leaders are busy defending their communities, saying they are being targeted, yet specific departments and people have been implicated, and the leaders in search of a balancing act, name check other communities which aren’t there, “Politicians must allow the institutions charged with the responsibilities to do their work.”
He once again faulted Deputy President William Ruto’s stance that only Kshs 7 billion may have been lost in the infamous dam projects and not Kshs 21 billion, adding that a shift of focus is a common trait of thieves, who when chased point out other innocent people who aren’t thieves, and the whole mob shifts focus to the innocent ones. “Don’t come and tell us it’s not Kshs 20 billion, it’s only Kshs 7 billion, let investigative authorities complete investigations,” said Raila, “Who are you to tell us? How do you know? You are the thief trying to show us the other thief is running away.”
On devolution, the ODM leaders urged the national government to stop interfering with the County government functions, including health, roads, agriculture, housing, which are devolved. He also said most of the Big Four Agenda has devolved functions and County governments should be given more resources.