Economy

CORD leader accuses Executive of doctoring graft suspects’ list

The list of suspects prepared by anti-corruption authorities for President Uhuru Kenyatta was edited to remove the names of key suspects, CORD leader Raila Odinga has claimed.

He says the original list included Devolution secretary Anne Waiguru, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Issack Hassan and other top IEBC officials.

“We will not take the President seriously on the war on corruption until all (alleged) thieves are treated equally,” he said.

Others mentioned by Raila include former Chief Registrar at the Judiciary Gladys Boss Shollei, whose prosecution EACC recommended earlier this week, and former IEBC Chief Executive James Oswago, who has been facing corruption and abuse of office charges since February last year.

In April, a State House aide was linked to the preparation of the list through contact with IEBC chief executive Halakhe Waqo but there was no suggestion he was involved in removing any names from the list.

Waqo said the aide, Jomo Gecaga, asked for “a more detailed brief” after being shown a report the commission had submitted to Parliament in February.

Some 175 people, including five Cabinet ministers and a dozen county governors, were named as suspects in 124 cases in the brief, which President Kenyatta made public through his State of the Nation address to Parliament.