Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Director of Communications Philip Etale has accused the Jubilee government of inflating the Standard Gauge Railway construction cost by billions of shillings.
Speaking on Radio Jambo Wednesday night, the close ally of opposition leader Raila Odinga claimed that the plan took place with the knowledge of both President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto.
He alleged that the same happened immediately after the two took over from the grand coalition government in 2013, after Raila, then the Premier, and former President Mwai Kibaki had allocated enough funds for the same project.
"Raila na Kibaki walikuwa wameshaanzisha huu mradi, ila Uhuru na Ruto walipoingia wakainflate na zaidi ya shillingi billioni mia moja (Raila and Kibaki already had plans for the project but Ruto and Uhuru inflated it by 100 billion shillings when they came in)," he said.
He therefore defended Raila from claims that he is seeking to benefit from the Chinese loan intended to see the railway extended to Kisumu.
While spekaing on Radio Jambo's Mazungumzo Waziwazi Wedneaday night, he added that Odinga is simply involved in the same in his capacity as the relevant African Union envoy.
"Raila yuko uchina kwa mwaliko kama mkuu wa kitengo cha miundomsingi hapa Africa. Si vyema kusema eti anataka kula (he is there in his capacity as the African Union envoy for infrastructure, he is not after the money)," added Etale.
Raila and Uhuru are already in China to collect the Ksh368 billion loan which is set to be used in the second phase of the project.
The revelation comes days after Etale promised to release mor information about the SGR project on his Twitter handle.
#hivisasaOriginal.