Omtatah Claims Ruto Used Ksh18 Billion for Raila’s AUC Campaign
Busia County Senator and 2027 presidential hopeful, Okiya Omtatah, has made serious allegations about how public funds may have been used to support ODM leader Raila Odinga’s bid for the African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship.
Speaking during a Monday morning interview on Spice FM, Omtatah pointed out what he believes is a suspicious inconsistency in the Budget Policy Statement (BPS).
According to him, there was a notable gap between the funds that were officially allocated for salaries, allowances, and miscellaneous expenses—and the actual amount that was spent.
Omtatah explained that the government had budgeted around Ksh4 billion for these expenditures, which are typically fixed and not prone to drastic changes. However, in reality, Ksh22 billion was reportedly used, leaving a staggering Ksh18 billion unexplained.
He alleged that this missing Ksh18 billion may have been secretly used to fund Raila’s campaign to become the AUC Chair.
“The amount set aside for salaries, allowances, and related costs was Ksh4.09 billion. That figure remained unchanged in the adjustments, yet somehow Ksh22 billion was paid. This is very suspicious,” said Omtatah.
He went on to link this discrepancy with the timing of Raila’s AUC campaign, suggesting the funds were diverted during the same period that Raila and President William Ruto were moving around Africa to gather support for the campaign.
Omtatah further clarified that the estimated Ksh4 billion only covers the salaries of state officials who are paid through the Consolidated Fund Services.
He noted that other sectors such as health and education have separate budgets, meaning the recent increase in staff in those departments cannot account for the massive overspending.
He insisted that the Ksh18 billion discrepancy strongly suggests that taxpayers unknowingly funded Raila’s bid, especially considering the high-profile trips and meetings across the continent during the campaign period.
So far, there has been no official statement detailing how much the campaign cost. However, public speculation has been rife, prompting Raila Odinga to publicly defend the integrity of the process.
Speaking in his first public appearance after losing the AUC race on February 24, Raila responded to rumors that claimed Ksh13 billion was spent on the campaign.
He dismissed the claims as baseless, saying those figures were completely exaggerated.
“I saw someone mention Ksh13 billion being used. I don’t know what world they’re living in or if they even understand how much a billion really is,” Raila said. “There’s no truth in that.
The government only supported us with transport to and from the countries we visited. In fact, in some countries, we were even offered accommodation free of charge.”
The controversy continues to raise questions among Kenyans about transparency in public spending and whether the government should have committed any amount of taxpayers’ money to a campaign for a political figure.
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