The handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga contributed significantly to the arrest of Treasury CS Henry Rotich and 27 others.
Mr Odinga, in one of the unlikely events in the history of Kenya, reconciled with President Uhuru Kenyatta in March last year, a move which caught many of their handlers off guard.
And Mr Odinga's spokesman Dennis Onyango on Monday said Raila's silence contributed to the arrests, arguing that Uhuru's handlers had been using the opposition leader's stand to defend impunity.
"Long Live Handshake.If Raila was still out calling for arrest of Rotich and investigations into Arror and Kimuarrer dams, the arrests would not have happened. His calls would have been used to convince the President to protect the suspects and provide more money to fight Raila," he said.
Lately, Raila has been fighting corruption from 'within', making it difficult for his critics to fault him due to his closeness to President Uhuru Kenyatta.
CS Rotich pleaded not guilty in the alleged embezzlement of Sh21 billion meant for construction of Kimwarer and Arror dams, and was released on Sh15 million cash bail on Tuesday.
The defence team comprises Katwa Kigen, Kioko Kilukumi, Philip Nyachoti, Kipchumba Murkomen, Anami Mugo, Stephen Kimathi, Mahat Samane.
Government will also seek the extradition of Paolo Porcelli, the Italian director of CMC di Ravenna, to face charges, the director of public prosecutions told Reuters on Tuesday.
“We have the Italian individual, he has not managed to present himself so we will be seeking for his extradition to come and face the charges here in Kenya. We will also issue an international arrest warrant,” Noordin Haji said.
In a statement on Monday, the company said it had not been informed of “any official communication from the Kenyan authorities... CMC is certain of the correctness of the work of the company and its representatives, both in Italy and abroad”.
During a press conference on Monday, DPP Haji said “if the projects were carried out in adherence to the law and existing policies for safeguarding the public interest, then it should not have cost Sh63 billion. We have evidence to prove Sh19,714,366,991 was lost through a well-choreographed scheme to defraud public funds.”
According to the DPP, the scandal was “a well-choreographer scheme by government officers in collusion with private individuals and institutions.”