Deputy President William Ruto on Wednesday night said former Devolution CS Anne Waiguru was fired over the theft of Sh791 million at the National Youth Service.
She did not resign for medical rasons, as she claimed, Ruto said in an interview on Citizen TV.
The amount of the theft has since been placed at about Sh1.6 billion.
The DP said Waiguru was sacked from the Cabinet, when it was discovered she was involved in the scandal.
“Waiguru was running the programme when it was discovered she had something to do with the mess and the theft. We are very clear, we work with people and when it comes to our knowledge they are not implementing the programme we sent them to implement, we remove them. We take action. We prosecute them. That’s what we have done,” Ruto said.
Waiguru says she is innocent, she was the whistle-blower preventingmore theft. She says she is the victim of cartels and people in high office.
In November last year, she announced she had stepped aside on doctor’s orders. She said the war on corruption had been turned into a war against her and her family.
She is expected to run for Kirinyaga governor against Martha Karua.
Asked whether Waiguru should take responsibility for corruption, Ruto said investigative agencies should be allowed to probe her.
He said he was upset when Waiguru alleged people in high office were trying to influence investigations.
“The institutions charged with investigations should deal with that … She was in charge that time,” Ruto said. “I was against her trying to insinuate we were trying to influence investigations.”
He denied defending Waiguru and later turning against her, saying he only defended NYS. “I defended the NYS programme and will defend it today, because it is good and helped transform thousands of young people …[it] will take in 30,000 young people, up from 20,000 every year.”
The DP said he is bothered his personal assistant Farouk Kibet was linked to the NYS theft, promising to fire him if allegations are proved.
He said he does not know NYS scandal suspect Ben Gethi.
“I have said when it comes to public money, we have a clear line,” the DP said.
-the-star.co.ke
