Ford Kenya yesterday broke its silence on the controversial fake gold scam and came to the defence of its leader Moses Wetang’ula over his alleged involvement in the transaction.
Ironically, the party has come forward to defend him even as he is among senators attending an international anti-corruption forum in Hong Kong.
The party said United Arab Emirates (UAE) royal family approached Wetang’ula to intervene and have the detained gold released.
Wetang’ula is reportedly under the spotlight of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) over his role in the gold scandal that saw the Dubai royal family lose Sh400 million.
Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka said Wetang’ula is part of a parliamentary delegation, along with Chris Wamalwa (Kimilili), Millie Odhiambo (Mbita), Shakeel Shabir (Kisumu Town East) and Charles Muriuki Njagagua (Mbeere North).
Party secretary general Eseli Simiyu told an NTV talk show the Dubai family rang Wetang’ula seeking his help owing to his past engagement with them as a lawyer.
Not wanting to appear to give authenticity to the trending audio which links the senator to the gold scam, Eseli asked politicians condemning Wetang’ula to give DCI time to probe the matter.
“There was a phone conversation between them, so let people not begin celebrating what they perceive as Wetang’ula’s tribulations. He will be back in the country soon and give his side of the story,’’ said Eseli.
The MP for Tongaren, considered a confidante of Wetang’ula’s, further claimed a scheme by Deputy President William Ruto’s camp in Jubilee to use the saga as a political tool to edge out their party leader from the western Kenya 2022 political arithmetic.
“It is obvious that if you want to capture the western region politically, then you have to get rid of leaders such as Wetang’ula and that is why the DP camp finds it convenient to beat at the senator,’’ said Eseli.
Rarieda MP Otiende Amolo claimed the DP’s camp was using the issue to get political relevance and cheap publicity.
The ODM MP asked those who had information relating to the matter to present the same to DCI instead of trying to gain political mileage.
Tangatanga team was engaging in double-speak by linking ODM leader Raila Odinga to the scandal while at the same time defending President Uhuru Kenyatta whose name was also dragged into the scandal in the online audio whose authenticity is yet to be established.
The MP said he was intrigued by the fact that neither the royal family nor the foreign embassy had filed any complaint officially to the police.