URP GETS READY TO EXPEL GOVERNOR ISAAC RUTTO: DEPUTY President William Ruto’s URP has begun the process of kicking out Bomet Governor Isaac Rutto..The party plans to use failure by Rutto to honour summons to appear before the Senate to answer questions about use of devolved funds in his county.
However, even if he is expelled from URP, this will have no impact on his five-year incumbency as governor. The party has written to all its elected leaders with authority to incur expenditure to ensure they account for all the money allocated to them, failing which they will be disciplined.
Senior members of the party told the Star yesterday that Governor Rutto is the target as he has refused to appear before the Senate. “URP is concerned that some members are facing serious audit queries. We shall deal with them for tainting the image of a party that has accountability as one of its key pillars,” a confidential memo to all its members seen by the Star reads.
Rutto, the Chairman of the Council of Governors, is leading a push for a referendum, an exercise that the ruling Jubilee coalition, which includes URP, is opposed to.
TNA has already forced its governors out of the referendum push and insisted that the plebiscite is a Cord affair. Yesterday Majority leader Aden Duale confirmed that Rutto is among those targeted for disciplinary action which includes expulsion from the party, unless he accounts for all the cash under his custody.
“The party has no problem with the noise Rutto is making in relation to his push for the referendum. That is his right and he can continue, but accountability is not negotiable. Rutto has violated a core principle of the URP constitution, which is accountability. URP shall expel him if he doesn’t come clean on the issue of Sh184 million. This money does not belong to his family,” Duale said yesterday in Parliament.
The two leaders nearly came to blows last week during a public rally in Narok county after Duale told Rutto the Sh184 million he should account for is not his mother’s property.
Duale announced that the party’s NEC is ready to summon Rutto once the case he has filed in court is concluded, where he will be pinned down to clear the air about his “war on accountability”.
In the letter, URP wants elected and nominated members to give the Jubilee agenda priority in all their operations while stressing the need to be accountable for funds at their disposal by virtue of the positions they hold.
“URP is committed to making sure that all its elected and nominated leaders respect the principles of accountability, including abiding by the Public Finance Management Act,” the correspondence states.
“It is the party position that its members at all levers give priority to the Jubilee agenda in the process of execution of their responsibilities, while refraining from graft activities. Accountability should not be an option but a responsibility,” the party noted.
URP Secretary General Fred Muteti also confirmed that he had written the letter to all its elected and nominated leaders. “We have told all our members responsible for use of public funds that they must be accountable and those who fail will be dealt with appropriately,” he said.
Source- the-star.co.ke
