Of trips to Uganda and dirty money claims

Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi talks more than he should. He’s an insider in the Deputy President William Ruto’s Nandi home team, and that tells you a lot about many things. After the DP and his “investment” entourage – which Sudi was part of (in what capacity I don’t know) – was blocked at Wilson airport from flying to Uganda, the MP called a press conference and angrily spoke his mind. 

For now, let me ignore the vicious ranting against Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i that was the centrepiece of Sudi’s briefing. One of the gems he alluded to was to Ruto’s (Sudi calls him ‘Boss’) mysterious “private” travels in the region. 

According to Sudi, they were supposed to fly first to Tanzania that day, before going to Uganda. However, they were denied clearance by Tanzanian authorities, who told them categorically that they had to clear their mission with State House, Nairobi. 

Exactly 11 days earlier, the same group (the DP, Sudi, a guy called David Lagat, together with their now famous Turkish “investor” buddy Harun Aydin) had apparently been to Zanzibar in another unexplained trip. Zanzibar is under Tanzania’s jurisdiction, but on this occasion their visit was not interfered with. 

Why had the Tanzanians suddenly turned unwelcoming on the second visit? 

If Sudi and his travelling group are of the reflective sort, the Tanzanian rebuff should have set them wondering. They decided to go ahead to Uganda anyway. But the DP was firmly blocked from going. 

The rest were allowed to go. If I were Sudi or his friends, I would think harder rather than blaming Matiang’i. Reportedly other neighbouring countries Ruto has “privately” visited in recent times are Congo, Sudan and Rwanda. 

On August 5, The People Daily, which is owned by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s family, had published details of the DP’s frequent visits to neighbouring countries. 

The paper reported that Kenyan investigators were following a complex money-laundering trail, which they had also linked to a web of seven Turkish nationals. It said the Turks had been making frequent visits to Uganda and Kenya and holding meetings with Ruto. 

Modern fruit farming

As far as I can tell, that newspaper’s story has not been refuted. It ties in with an August 7 Daily Nation report questioning the funding used to build a Covid-19 vaccine factory Ruto had launched in Uganda on July 6. 

Last year, the vaccine company’s accounts were frozen by Uganda’s Financial Intelligence Authority but soon got unfrozen when President Yoweri Museveni angrily intervened. 

So what was Ruto going to do in Uganda on August 2 before he got stopped? The purported reasons are as varied as they are dizzying. The DP himself explained his mission was partly to commission the vaccine plant (again?), among other things. 

Sudi and the DP’s other handlers then put out the story that they were going to “benchmark”, on behalf of their Tangatanga group, with officials of Uganda’s ruling National Resistance Movement. 

Earlier, Sudi had claimed their visit was tied to “modern fruit farming”, which he helpfully added “investor” Harun Aydin was very much interested in. My head spins. Were all these explanations a cover to the money laundering allegations that had not yet gone public?

This travelling Kenyan circus was much overjoyed when the Turkish embassy in Nairobi issued a statement describing Harun Aydin as a “businessman” who had a valid Kenyan work permit. But the statement didn’t make clear what exactly was the business he was in. Actually the embassy was responding to explosive Kenyan reports linking Aydin to terrorist activities in Europe. 

But matters got terribly worse when Ruto gave an interview to Inooro FM radio station, which was widely aired on TV too. 

Whenever the DP grants a broadcast interview, expect a whopper. I recall one where he said he bought his first car after President Daniel arap Moi allocated him public land in Eldoret, which Ruto said he sold for a tidy sum. There was another interview where he dropped the shocker that “corruption should not hinder the performance of a leader”.

Abuse of office

The latest Inooro interview exceeded all his blundering. The DP revealed that he personally, from his office, had called Equity Bank and asked them to “assist” Harun Aydin, subsequent to which he got Sh15 billion credit line to fund the vaccine factory he was supposedly putting up in Uganda. 

This was so wrong on many levels. The DP peddling influence with a local private bank? On behalf of a foreigner? Who was investing in a foreign country? Ruto came out looking very bad. That is what is called in plain language abuse of office. 

Equity weren’t smelling like roses either. One, if the story of a Sh15 billion-instant-loan-by-phone transaction is true, it doesn’t set a very good example for a bank of its stature. 

Don’t we have an official investment authority in this country and in Uganda where such matters should be channelled through? 

Museveni has exposed himself to negative scrutiny on this matter too. Has he ever instructed his officials to inquire from the Kenya High Commission in Kampala the status of the DP’s frequent visits? 

A President who has been in power for 35 years and ignores established state-to-state protocols is setting a poor standard for upcoming leaders. Could it be a coincidence that Tangatanga’s party colours (yellow) is the same with Uganda’s? 

Though Uganda’s Foreign ministry promptly released a statement denying that Uganda had in any way improperly interfered in Kenyan internal affairs, I fear the diplomatic damage will not be immediately rectified. 

Now that the Turkish “investor” has been deported, let’s wait and see if it’s the last we’ve heard of the matter.

@GitauWarigi