President Uhuru Kenyatta is set to sack three ministers who have bee linked directly to Sh21 billion Kimwarer and Arror dams following conclusion of investigations by DCI George Kinoti, reports the Nation.
So divisive was the probe that Deputy President William Ruto openly dismissed claims that money was lost despite preliminary evidence by DCI which shows suspicious transactions.
Politicians allied to DP Ruto termed the scandals as imaginary, adding that it's part of the wider scheme to block Ruto's 2022 chances. They also claimed that Kinoti did not have powers to do such high profile investigations.
But in a rejoinder, Mr Kinoti told off the critics, saying: “I will not be blackmailed, and I will not keep off. Tell those who are abusing me in political rallies that Kinoti is unshakeable, and that I will not allow billionaires to enjoy their ill-gotten wealth in peace."
Senior detectives confided to the Nation Thursday evening that they had “unmasked the real people behind the scandal”, and that the scam is “much deeper that we thought”.
Work on the dams has never begun despite the payment of Sh21 billion to a broke Italian firm, CMC di Ravenna, and an insurance company which had secured the loans.
“We just realised we were scratching the surface, but we have now made a breakthrough,” the source at the DCI, who is familiar with the investigations, said.
With the widening of the investigations, there is speculation within intelligence circles that President Uhuru Kenyatta will use his State of the Nation address on Thursday next week to ask all Cabinet Secretaries and Principal Secretaries embroiled in various scandals to step aside until they are cleared.
Sources at State House claim that those involved could be asked to voluntarily step down during Uhuru's State of the Nation address. He used a similar tactic to do away with five ministers in 2015.
In the risk of being sacked and possibly arrested are Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich, Agriculture's Mwangi Kiunjuri and Devolution minister Eugene Wamalwa. When the deal was being signed in 2017, Wamalwa was in water department while Kiunjuri was in Devolution.
Already, the three have recorded statements at DCI but sources say their stay in cabinet could be terminated in few days time. Uhuru is also expected to reshuffle his cabinet after the impending sacks and arrests.