Nairobi — Azimio La Umoja Leader Raila Odinga has condemned the arrest of Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o terming it a political witch-hunt aimed at intimidating her for pointing out the rot in President William Ruto's administration.
Odinga stated the arrest was no surprise insisting it was imminent in light of her determination to act professionally in 'a regime infested by crooks and unprofessional conduct.'
"It was only a matter of when not if Ms Nyakango was going to sent packing frivolous and trumped up charges to create room for a user-friendly holder of the office, who will support and sanitize the looting currently underway," he said.
The Azimio La Umoja Leader expressed the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission is on a wild goose chase to produce a water-tight case against the Controller of Budget insisting they will not rest easy and watch Nyakango being intimidated.
"The EACC will find it difficult to convince Kenyans about,at a time when Kenyans are wreathing under full blown corruption.We encourage Ms Nyakango to remain strong in the defense on integrity,"Odinga said.
NARC Kenya Leader Martha Karua has accused the government of harassing and intimidating the Controller of Budget Nyakang'o after she exposed the siphoning of public resources before the National Dialogue Committee.
This follows her arrest in Mombasa in connection with a complaint made against her in 2016.
"Suggestive of harassment and intimidation especially coming after her revealing testimony at Bomas. Those siphoning government money at the treasury are scot free but the whistle blower is under arrest," read the post by Karua.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Nyakang'o while appearing before NADCO had alleged that the National treasury had inflated salaries for top government officials, a factor she said was interfering with government budget allocations.
She explained that her salary was inflated by almost double the normal pay she receives with her annual salary budgeted at Sh17.82m, instead of Sh9.18m that she should be paid.
"My salary was budgeted at three times what I'm paid. When I asked about that, no response was provided," she said.
Nyakang'o has been arrested in Mombasa in connection with a complaint made against her in 2016.Together with 10 other people, she is set to face various charges including conspiracy to defraud contrary to Section 317 of the Penal Code.
She will also be charged with operating a Sacco without a License Contrary to Section 24 as read with Section 66 of the Sacco Societies Act, 2008, forgery and uttering a false document of the Penal Code.
The charges were approved by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) in a letter to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on November 30.
