Cord leader Raila Odinga Wednesday claimed that senior government officials were involved in the controversial transfer of a 134-acre piece of land in the upmarket Karen area of Nairobi.
Though he did not mention names, he hit out hard over the way Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu had handled land issues.
He claimed that some leaders had used public land to acquire wealth, arguing that nothing has changed in the country since Jubilee government came to power.
Speaking in Kiswahili, he said: “Mmeona mvurutano kati ya waziri wa ardhi na tume ya ardhi, ndiyo sababu tulisema kule Bomas kwamba mambo yote ya ardhi yasimamiwe na tume ya ardhi. Nataka kutahadharisha waKenya, huwezi kuweka fisi kama mchungaji wa kondoo.
Hutakuwa na kondoo (You have witnessed the conflict between the Lands Cabinet Secretary and the National Lands Commission; this is why we said at Bomas (constitutional talks) that all land matters be administered by the Lands Commission. I want to caution Kenyans that you cannot appoint a hyena as a shepherd; there will be no flock left).”
In a strongly worded statement delivered after returning from his ten day trip to the US, Mozambique and South Africa, Mr Odinga appeared to throw a salvo at Deputy President William Ruto, when he said some people have transformed their lives from “hustlers” to tycoons without “sweating”.
Mr Ruto often refers to himself as a “hustler” who has risen from a humble past to his current position through hard work.
“As the government makes harambee the official vehicle for development, we can only expect more of this stealing of land,” he said.
The scale of the scandal is high, and both President Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr Ruto issued a statement at the weekend, warning that the law would be followed to ensure that those who have grabbed the prime land face the law.
Mrs Ngilu has also denied any involvement in the controversial allocations and asked the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to investigate the matter.
Mr Odinga appeared to be echoing statements by Senators Johnson Muthama (Machakos) and Boni Khalwale (Kakamega) both of who had asked the ethics commission to record statements from Mr Ruto and Mrs Ngilu regarding the 134 acre piece of land in Karen.
Others mentioned adversely included Nairobi governor Evans Kidero, Senator Mike Sonko, the Inspector General of Police, Mr David Kimaiyo and CID boss Ndegwa Muhoro. They have all denied the allegations and warned the two senators about their utterances.
FAILED TO TURN UP
Mr Muthama and Dr Khalwale, who had been summoned by the EACC to record statements regarding their allegations, failed to turn up at the commission’s offices on Wednesday. Instead, they promised to prove their claims next week.
The Sh8 billion piece of land is at the centre of a legal battle pitting Mr Horatious da Gama Rose and his firm Muchanga Investments Ltd against Habenga Holdings, Jina Enterprises Ltd and Telesource Company Ltd.
The Director of Surveys, the Registrar of Titles and the Chief Lands Registrar are also respondents in the case filed by Muchanga Investments.
More than 50 individuals and companies have purchased plots from Telesource, which is associated with former NSSF Trustee Jos Konzolo.
On Parliament, Mr Odinga also hit out at the Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr Justin Muturi, accusing him of disobeying court orders.
“It is wrong for the Speaker of the National Assembly to say he will not obey court orders yet there is a clear separation of powers between the three arms of government,” Mr Odinga said at a press conference in Nairobi.
On elections, Mr Odinga said Cord would seek to entrench major electoral reforms in the Constitution if its referendum push succeeds to ensure that future elections are democratic, free and fair.
“There is clearly a need for parties to appoint representatives to the IEBC with a mandate to be the party’s watchdog within the agreed rules governing elections,” he said.
Cord, he said, would also push to have results announced by presiding officers at polling station to be declared as final with the electoral body only providing the national tally.
“There is no rationale whatsoever for IEBC officials sitting in Nairobi to purport to be verifying figures sent to them by its agents at the polling stations.
That system has only succeeded in creating more confusion and room to manipulate the will of the voters,” he said.
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