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William Ruto's presidential bid in peril after multibillion arms procurement scam linked to his office

The allegations about the 366 million euro (KSh40 billion) scam that have deepened the rift between Ruto and President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is due to after two terms in office.William Ruto was set to become the ruling Jubilee party’s standard bearer when the country holds the next general elections in 2022.

Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto
Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto file.jpg
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Kenya’s respected Daily Nation reports that CCTV footage taken from the Deputy President’s office on Friday positively identified two of his aides as having been present on 13 February when former Sports cabinet secretary Rashid Echesa met with officials from Echo Advanced Technologies, an American Company allegedly linked to the scam.

Echesa is said to have used Ruto’s office to swindle (100 million Euros (Sh11 million) from directors of the firm, allegedly as brokerage fees to help them win the lucrative tender.

The newspaper also quotes prosecutors in charge of the investigation as saying that William Ruto seemed to agree that a statement posted on his twitter handle that a meeting took place in his office.

This is despite the fact that procurements are not part of his portfolio.

Former Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Sports Rashid Echesa, Nairobi, 14th February, 2019
Former Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Sports Rashid Echesa, Nairobi, 14th February, 2019 Thenation.co.ke

Dangerous liaisons

The presence in Ruto’s office of the controversial Echesa is no surprise to Kenyans, the Standard notes in a lead article.

After the sack, Echesa did not stop making headlines with his push for Deputy President William Ruto’s 2022 presidential bid, recalls the publication.

The newspaper also quotes prosecutors in charge of the investigation as saying that William Ruto seemed to agree that a statement posted on his twitter handle that a meeting took place in his office.

In the very latest development, Rashid Echesa appeared before a magistrate's court in Nairobi, this Monday.

The former Sports Cabinet Secretary and three others have reportedly been charged with conspiring to commit a felony, making a document without authority, obtaining money by false pretense, attempt to commit a felony and uttering a false document, according Kenyan media outlets.

Smear campaign?

The Deputy President has denounced the alleged procurements scam as a smear campaign by his political rivals.

He actually acknowledged that while a meeting was held in his office, he wasn’t there”, says Patrick Gathara, a respected Kenyan blogger and political commentator based in Nairobi.

On the question about whether Ruto was aware of the meeting, Gathara says he probably was, adding that he must “bear responsibility for whatever goes on in his office”.

"Carry your cross"

Meanwhile, the clamour for Ruto’s removal from office has been gaining ground within the ruling Jubilee coalition.

Outspoken Kitui governor Charity Ngilu has called on the Deputy President to step aside so as” to pave the way for proper investigations”, reports the Daily Nation.

This is while the opposition ODM director of political affairs Opiyo Wandayi invited Ruto to “carry your own cross”.

However the majority leader at Kenya’s National Assembly Aden Duale and his Senate counterpart Kipchumba Murkomen are reportedly digging in to defend Deputy President Ruto.

“[Many] fictitious deals by fraudsters used to be conducted in many offices, including that of the former Prime Minister, in the same building,” Duale is quoted as saying.

Boon for BBI

Kenyan political commentator Patrick Gathara points to the race to succeed Uhuru Kenyatta when he retires in 2022, after two terms in 2022, as one possible issue which currently poisoning Kenyan politics.

Foremost is President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Building Bridges Initiative offer to the Raila Odinga-led opposition, aimed at stemming deep ethnic divisions and electoral violence in the country.

That has not gone down well with William Ruto’s allies in the ruling Jubilee coalition.

“I think the people who are behind the “handshake” who are currently seen to be on Raila’s side are the ones mostly pushing to associate the deputy President to this deal, explains Gathara.

“You can’t exclude the possibility of a push from one side Kenya’s current political divide to hang this (graft scandal) around Ruto’s neck”, the political commentator argues.

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Kenyan blogger Patrick Gathara on DP William Ruto's mounting political woes

 

 

 

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