The Busia County Senator and 2027 presidential aspirant Okiya Omtatah has alleged that a discrepancy in the Budget Policy Statement might explain how the taxpayers financed the Orange Democratic Party (ODM) Party Leader Raila Odinga's African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship.
Speaking during an interview at Spice FM on Monday morning, Omtatah highlighted a clear difference between the funds allocated for salaries, allowances, and miscellaneous and the amount spent.
According to the report, the allocation, which is supposed to be fixed, was Ksh4 billion, but a whopping Ksh22 billion was spent, leaving Ksh18 billion unaccounted for.
This Ksh18 billion, Omtatah noted, must have been used to finance Odinga's bid at the AUC bid since it happened at the time when he was running for the chairmanship position.
"Salaries, allowances, and other miscellaneous costs are usually a fixed figure, and the initial estimate is Ksh4.09 billion. Adjustment remained the same figure, but Ksh22 billion has been paid," Omtatah noted.
"This was the time when Raila was running for the AU seat, and I have a suspicion that this was where the money that financed Raila came from."
The Senator further clarified that the salaries referred to in that Ksh4 billion estimate only included those of state officials, as departments like health and education had their own budgets.
Therefore, he noted that the recent surge in hiring in both sectors could not explain the Ksh18 billion. The projected Ksh4 billion was expected to only pay those in consolidated fund services.
This revelation, Omtatah reiterated, could thereby explain how the government financed the highly publicised Odinga AUC chairmanship campaign that saw both him and President William Ruto traverse the continent seeking votes.
Although no official communication was made on the amount used in the campaigns, Kenyans' speculations led to the former prime minister clarifying that the government only catered for transport to and from the countries he toured.
"I have seen somebody talking about Ksh13 billion that was spent on the campaign. I don't know which world these guys live in and whether they know what a billion means," he said during his first public appearance since his loss on February 24.
"Nothing can be further from the truth, no such amount was spent. The government only came through with transport to and from the countries we visited, some countries were generous enough to provide accommodation for us."
