Devolution and Planing Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru has come out to defend herself against allegations of corruption, accusing Kenyans of incessant attacks on her character over graft in her ministry and related agencies.
Ms Waiguru, through a statement posted online on Wednesday, November 4, said she had never been found involved in any corrupt deal yet her name has repeatedly been dragged in the scandals.
According to Anne Waiguru, people have deliberately refused to recognise her role as CS in the ministry and not an accounting officer. She distanced herself from the ministry’s highly inflated expenditure in 2013/14 financial year, including a Ksh1.7 million television apparently bought for her officer, saying she does not take any part in the procurement processes and negotiation of contracts.
She pointed out that other ministries had similar and more serious allegations of misuse of funds but they were never personalised attacks on her fellow CSs as in her case.
See also: Why life is suddenly hostile to Anne Waiguru
FULL STATEMENT
Why all these personal attacks against me?
The last three months have witnessed incessant media attacks on my character on the issue of corruption in the Ministry of Devolution and its agencies including the National Youth Service.
What is shocking is the deliberate refusal to recognize my role as Cabinet Secretary and that of officers who are either accounting officers or AIE (Authority to Incur Expenditure) holders in government departments. Both by law and in practice; I do not procure, I do not purchase anything for the ministry, I don’t sign or negotiate contracts.
Where instances of possible malpractice has been brought to my attention I have called in investigative authorities. At no point has any investigation either by EACC, CID or any other body pointed to my personal engagement with corrupt deals. Yet the vicious unwarranted attacks continue.
It’s amazing that whereas there are similar and more serious allegations of misuse of funds in many government departments there is never the personalized level of attack on CSs that has been directed at me.
Surely this is no longer about the fight against corruption. It’s calculated evil, vindictive and ill intentioned. It’s an unfortunate distraction from the work the Ministry has been doing in the last two years.
I will continue to serve my country diligently as I have always done for as long as I am given the trust to do so. And for the record I have no such TV screen or piano in my office.
God bless Kenya.
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