Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka on Sunday, April 14, came to the defence of embattled Azimio principals who are staring at arrest and prosecution over multimillion corruption cases.
Speaking in Mumias, Kakamega County, Kalonzo defended former governors Mwangi wa Iria (Murang’a) and Wycliffe Oparanya (Kakamega) after the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) together with the Office of Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP) recommended charges against the Azimio principals.
This came at a time when Azimio Leader Raila Odinga has been seen to take a backseat in active local opposition politics as he focuses on his bid for the African Union Commission (AUC) chairperson position.
Kalonzo spoke a day after Mwangi wa Iria was accused of conflict of interest while awarding a Ksh140 million publicity tender during his time as Murang'a Governor.
“We shall stand with our brother Mwangi Wa Iria come rain come sunshine. You cannot weaponize the war against corruption,” Kalonzo stated.
The former Vice President remarked that the current administration was using investigative constitutional offices to clamp down on the opposition.
In his view, ODPP and EACC should also investigate government officials if they are serious about dealing with corruption.
“The real criminals and corrupt people are known and are out there. Go for them,” he remarked.
Kalonzo added that it was bizarre to see Mwangi wa Iria being prosecuted while there were people with criminal cases serving in the current administration.
Further, he lamented that the government was shaming opposition leaders citing a time when Oparanya was publicly arrested with his wife.
On his part, in the last two months, Raila Odinga has been conspicuously missing from Azimio pressers which have been calling for agitation against different policies and directives instituted by the government.
Last week, Kalonzo and other Azimio principals convened a presser where they threatened to join doctors in their strike if President William Ruto did not solve the impasse.
Later, Raila Odinga flanked by only Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) officials called his own presser to discuss the medics' strike.
Notably, his message was also different from the previous Azimio presser as he refrained from remarking that he would lead Azimio in joining the strike should the matter not be handled promptly.
