CORD Leader Raila Odinga has come under attack from Jubilee following accusations by Dominion Farms Limited CEO, Calvin Burgess that on several occasions he tried to extort him. Last week, Mr Burgess through a press conference claimed that Odinga was frustrating his business through extortion, violence, and ejection threats. He says this arose when he declined to fund the CORD chief and the ODM party.
“Raila wanted me to support him politically by funding him. I clarified that ‘The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act’ a US law, did not allow me to do that, and would result to my imprisonment, end of the farm and a fine,” he explained in his 22-page statement last week.
In his letter to inspector general Joseph Boinnet, he alleged that political leaders from the opposition were invading his farm and hiring goons to target him. He therefore requested the interior ministry to avail him security that would protect him from the above.
Mr. Burgess also claimed that the area MCA, Leonard Oriaro, he claimed had been inciting areas residents to stop dominion farm from clearing the northern area by planting crops thus demanding more land. However, the MCA says the farm is their ancestral land. Further, the CEO alleged that Mr. Oriaro mobilized the community on three occasions to beat him and his employees making him flee the country for a while.
Burgess further accused Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo, Governor Cornel Rasanga and other members of the county assembly of constantly making him abandon the project he had initiated. Midiwo has denied the claims.
ODM leaders have defended themselves and went ahead to accuse Jubilee of using the American investor to soil Raila’s reputation. They said it is a ploy aimed at destroying his presidential bid and vowed to present evidence of meetings between the investor and Jubilee party proxies.
In return, Jubilee leaders have dared Raila to clear his name over the allegations. Aden Duale, national assembly majority leader called on the opposition to issue a press conference denying the claims. The Garissa Township MP wants the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to look into the matter.
