ODM Party Leader Raila Odinga says there is nothing wrong with operating accounts in foreign Countries as long as they aren’t used to hide proceeds of corruption.
Raila defended President Uhuru Kenyatta over the leaked Pandora papers linking his family to 13 offshore companies holding billions of shillings.
According to the Pandora Papers, the Kenyan president owns an institution in Panama and many members of his immediate family – including his mother, brother and two sisters – own more than $ 30 million in offshore accounts.
He called for calm saying the President was clear that he would address the matter comprehensively on his return from a State Visit to the US.
Raila further revealed that he doesn’t operate accounts outside the Country saying everything is in Kenya.
He encouraged other Kenyans running accounts outside the Country to come out saying he knows there are some hiding money looted from Government coffers.
“I have been in government and temptations are many, At times people who have won tenders will approach you and promise you things saying they will even hide it for you. I have been approached but I refused,” he said.
Raila says corruption remains the greatest enemy to development in the Country arguing it thrives through harambees.
“We must ask questions, where do they get this money from, Everywhere they go they are just dishing out cash to youths, women groups, giving donations to churches, Schools etc. It’s not normal for a person to have such amounts of money,” he said.
He maintains that the funds donated in harambees are likely to have been stolen from Government.
Many leaders – including the Czech prime minister, the king of Jord, and the President of Ecuador – have been hiding their assets in offshore companies, mostly for tax evasion, according to a survey published by the International Consortium for International Research.
