Raila Says Graft Probe Against Oparanya is a Political Witch-hunt

Opposition leader Raila Odinga has condemned the arrest of former Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya.

Oparanya was apprehended by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) alongside his wife Priscilla on Wednesday over alleged embezzlement of Sh1.3 billion during his tenure.

The ODM party leader dismissed the on-going investigation against the former county chief as political witch-hunt.

Raila said the fight against graft should be neutral and devoid of politics.

Read: EACC Officers Arrest Former Kakamega Governor Oparanya

The former prime minister noted that probe into corrupt dealings should not target those opposing the government of the day.

“This is a witch-hunt and an afterthought. Oparanya has been in office and he’s left…..the authorities can now only come after him after there is an audit…you don’t get EACC coming out of the blue carrying out investigations. What sort of investigations are they carrying out?” he posed.

“He (Oparanya) finished his job and handed it over a year ago, he is no longer in office. So we are now dealing with a post mortem and during a post-mortem, you don’t need to come after anyone. There should be audit accounts which show some kind of wrongdoing.”

He urged the anti-graft agency to look into corrupt dealings within the government.

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“They cannot just be running around roguishly arresting people in the name of carrying out investigations. This is a political witch-hunt,” he said.

The opposition chief also alleged that EACC was also looking into others within the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance coalition party.

On the EACC’s radar, he said, include ex-Laikipia county boss Nderitu Muriithi and retired Murang’a governor Mwangi Wa Iria.

“So they are just trying to target Azimio-leaning officials and those who were in government in the previous administration, including former MPs, senators, governors, and so on.”