CS Charity Ngilu claims she was acting on President Uhurus’s orders in two matters over investigation

Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu

CS Charity Ngilu claims she was acting on President Uhurus’s orders in two matters over investigation 

NAIROBI: In normal days, suspended Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu would either have been sitting through long meetings in her office boardroom, or shuttling to State House either for Cabinet meetings or to brief the President on “hot” land issues on her docket.

She would even probably have been in a five-star hotel for this or that “important” conference, or would be high in the skies flying to another of those foreign excursions people of her status get invited for, as people of her stature like to call it, to represent one’s country and even president. That was not the exactly the “busy” day “Mama Rainbow”, as she is known to her close associates, had Tuesday. For eight straight hours, cutting through her lunch time, Ngilu was at Integrity Centre, Nairobi, fielding questions from investigators keen to know more about the damning corruption claims against her by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. Forced to step aside over claims she dismissed as fabricated and designed to bring down the pillars of the Jubilee government, Tuesday Ngilu arrived with a big bundle of documents, clearly exhibiting the will to fight and reclaim her honour and credibility. After all Ngilu is not just a CS but a former presidential candidate, and there is no ruling out that she might run again, and you can’t command that respect and garner support if you are a certified thief. Ngilu had promised to put up a fight for her name so that on being cleared she would be readmitted to the Cabinet, but as it turned out, the process was very long – taking up eight precious hours of Ngilu’s day. See also: Ngilu appears before EACC over State House, Karen land graft allegations But when she emerged from Integrity Centre, she declared it was President Uhuru Kenyatta who had sanctioned two of the matters for which she was under investigation. “The questions they have been asking me are not real to me. Where did the issue of overpricing of the Waitiki land come from when those who were involved are known?” Ngilu asked referring to claims she had backed overpricing of private land the Government wants to buy in Likoni, motivated by a promised Sh65 million kick-back.

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She was grilled from 9.20am to 5.55pm over the planned sale of the 930-acre land belonging to Evanson Waitiki in Likoni, Mombasa. She also faced questions on claims top Government officials were involved in the Karen land grab and the alleged irregular seizure of land along State House Crescent Road. “I can’t say much on the issue of the Karen land saga because issues of land are serious for now. You have seen people killing each other because of the land matters and what I have may not please many,” she said. On the Waitiki land, Ngilu argued the owner had demanded Sh9.3 billion for his land, translating to a cost of Sh10 million per acre. But Government valuers put the price at Sh2.64 billion and when Waitiki stood firm on his demands a meeting was hosted between the seller, the President, Ngilu, Treasury CS Henry Rotich, Head of Civil Service Joseph Kinyua among others whereby an offer of Sh1.1 billion was given.
Read more at: http://standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000157628/ngilu-invokes-uhuru-s-name-in-session-with-graft-detectives/