By NANCY AGUTU

National Assembly Majority leader and Garissa Town Member of Parliament Aden Duale. Photo/FILE

Aden Duale has described as “hollow, empty, inconsequential and foolhardy” Cord leader Raila Odinga’s call for his resignation over the Sh791 NYS scandal.

Raila on Saturday called for the immediate arrest of those involved in the National Youth Service scam. Former Devolution CS Anne Waiguru dragged Duale into the mess but he has denied the allegations.

Duale said on Saturday night: “His call for the resignation of Treasury CS Henry Rotich and I is not worth the breath with which it was issued. Raila cannot lecture any leader on corruption.”

“The mention of my name is not enough to warrant my resignation. What aspect of corruption was I involved in? What benefit did I get?”.

Duale, who is National Assembly Majority leader and Garissa Town MP, said in a statement that Raila is “replete with dubious corruption allegations”.

He said the Opposition leader’s history has shown he has a “heavy inclination to align himself with some of the most corrupt people in the country”.

“If Raila who has scandalised himself several times and hobnobs with thieves and drug dealers has never resigned, I cannot do so,” he said.

Duale accused Raila of being silent on allegations of bribery involving the judiciary , concerning a petition against Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero by Ferdinand Waititu, who is not Kabete MP.

He mentioned bribery allegations against British American Tobacco alongside the claims that Supreme Court Philip Tunoi took a Sh200 million to help deliver a favourable ruling in the petition, in August 2014.

BBC’s Panorama programme mentioned Moses Wetang’ula (now Bungoma Senator) as one of the MPs who allegedly received “favours” from BAT while he was Trade minister in 2012. Wetang’ula denied the claims.

Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua also denied claims that she received a Sh7.6 million (£50,000) bribe from BAT while campaigning for president in 2013 to stop a rival company from giving Kenya technology to fight tobacco smuggling.

Duale said: “Raila gets deaf and dumb when his ODM and Cord lieutenants are mentioned in sleaze or caught with their hands in the cookie jar.”

He noted that Raila dismissed the allegations in political rallies and on national television adding “he was unperturbed by the fact that graft laced with nicotine is toxic”.

“Contraband goods were found in depots linked to Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho. Raila was first to defend him even though the Cord principal is neither an investigator nor in the know,” he added.

“Raila’s barometer on such matters is thus faulty because it only tilts against others and never against his own.”

Source: The Satar