United Democratic Allliance (UDA) Party Secretary-General Hassan Omar Hassan has called for the arrest of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, following his recent remarks touching on the investigations of the fuel scandal.
Speaking in Mombasa on Monday, April 6, Hassan said that Gachagua’s remarks appear to suggest that he knows or he is familiar with the alleged scheme.
Gachagua, on Sunday, April 5, linked the ongoing saga sorrounding fuel cartels to President William Ruto, and that the arrest of senior energy officials could be because of a deal gone wrong. However, Hassan says nothing could be further from the truth.
“Before Wamunyoro brings this country down, I am telling the DCI, arrest him! Sisi tuko tayari… Arrest these gentlemen, kwani watatufanya nini?,” Hassan said.
He added: “Yes kuna fanatics wake wachache watapiga kelele hapa na pale, but so what? If we continue to exercise restraint, they will look at restrain as cowardice. It is important for us to demonstrate our courage as a nation. So ndugu yangu Amin, IG Kanja it is time to work on this gentlemen before it is too late.”
Hassan further accused Gachagua and Kiharu Member of Parliament Ndindi Nyoro of taking advantage of the fuel scandal to scavenge for political mileage.
He also accused the duo of taking advantage of the emerging risks in the stability, reliability and security of Kenya’s fuel supply chain occasioned by Iran war to advance narrow, myopic, and parochial interests at the expense of the national good.
Gachagua dares DCI
The UDA Sec-Gen’s statements comes hours after Gachagua dared the DCI to arrest him, hours after the investigative agency dismissed his allegations over a KSh500 million exhibit in the ongoing fuel procurement probe.
A bullish Gachagua said will not be intimidated, insisting he stands by his remarks and is ready to face the consequences if authorities believe he has committed an offence.
“I spoke at Gakoe and explained the issues surrounding the conflict and how a KSh500 million exhibit was stolen,” he said. “Now I see the DCI writing statements to intimidate me. Let me tell you, if you want to arrest me, come and arrest me and see what will follow.”
The scandal…
Five senior officials in the energy sector spent the weekend in police cells following their arrest in connection to the scandal. After the arrests were made, three of them opted to resign. They include; Joe Sang, the Managing Director of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC); Daniel Kiptoo Bargoria, Director General of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority; and Mohamed Liban, Principal Secretary for Petroleum.
The suspects are accused of orchestrating a scheme that would see Kenyans lose KSh3 billion in public money by procuring substandard petroleum products under the false pretext of an impending fuel shortage.
The procurement of an overpriced, substandard quality emergency shipment of fuel, the government said, “appears to have been done to exploit rising global prices and public anxiety, thereby creating a false impression of impending supply shortfall.”
