Inside battle to save CS nominee Oparanya’s bid

Co-operatives Cabinet Secretary Nominee Wycliffe Oparanya’s vetting by the National Assembly’s Appointments Committee yesterday was the culmination of a week of political horse-trading and behind-the-scenes efforts to ensure he is cleared to join President William’s Ruto cabinet.

Oparanya, who was grilled for several hours by MPs, had spent the better part of last week shuttling between several government offices, reportedly, to rally support for his nomination amid corruption allegations.

One such visit was to Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi’s office where it was understood that he had gone to seek support from him following the opposition to his nomination.

Mudavadi in a Facebook post although did not divulge the contents of the meeting, admitted that he met with Oparanya and held discussions to revitalise the country’s co-operatives.

Said Mudavadi in a statement posted on his Facebook account; “This evening, I hosted former Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, the Cabinet nominee for the Ministry of Cooperatives and MSMEs, during his courtesy visit to the Railways Offices.”

He added: “Our discussions focused on revitalising Kenya’s cooperative sector, renowned as one of the strongest in Africa, and harnessing new technologies and innovations to enhance financial access for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). We also reflected on how to further empower the people of the Western Kenya region, with a focus on unlocking their economic potential and driving regional development.”

EACC consent

It was during this time that he also secured crucial backing from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) Renson Ingonga who wrote to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) withdrawing consent to prosecute him following his nomination.

In the letter, the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Joseph Riungu informed EACC CEO Twalib Mbarak that the monies upon which the commission sought to charge Oparanya were not kickbacks or bribes but a loan intended for the purchase of a house.

The EACC boss wrote to Parliament on July 29 notifying the House about the alleged pending case against the CS nominee.

Oparanya offensive

Oparanya, who was grilled for several hours by MPs, had spent the better part of last week shuttling between several government offices

 Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Joseph Riungu informed EACC CEO Twalib Mbarak that the monies upon which the commission sought to charge Oparanya were not kickbacks or bribes

The attempts to save Oparanya came on the day he claimed that he was being unfairly targeted as he only knew about the allegations being levelled against him through the media..

Killed attempts

Coming hot on the heels of this was a declaration by the Deputy Speaker and senior member of the Appointments Committee Gladys Boss, who, practically, killed off spirited attempts by the EACC to have Oparanya barred from the vetting process, declaring that the anti-corruption agency had no business stopping the National Assembly from vetting a nominee.

Interestingly, the deputy speaker also told Oparanya to lodge a complaint against EACC after he claimed that the institution did not record any statement from him before forwarding the file to ODPP for prosecution.

She said: “If they forwarded a file to the DPP without your statement then it is highly illegal and in fact you should lodge a complaint against them.”

Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetangula who chairs the committee also came to the aid of Oparanya saying the DPP clarified to the committee that the candidate was not under any investigation from his office.

He said: “This committee instructed the clerk of the National Assembly to write to DPP to confirm whether there were proceedings of a criminal nature against Oparanya as had been published against him. The DPP wrote back to the National Assembly and said there are no proceedings against him going on.”

Sources close to the former Kakamega governor said he had also held sessions with President William Ruto and Opposition leader Raila Odinga to share his concerns about what he termed as the EACC “witchhunt.” The two leaders, our sources confided, assured Oparanya that he could count on their “unwavering support.”