By Anderson Ojwang
The dark secrets of the 2022 Presidential Election in the Azimio La Umoja coalition have burst open, with accusations and counter-accusations emerging.
ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna lit the fire after he accused the Secretary General of Azimio La Umoja of misappropriating agents’ funds and bungling Raila Amolo Odinga’s election as the fifth President of Kenya in the August 2022 elections.
But Junet did not take the accusation lying down and instead placed the blame on former President Uhuru Kenyatta, whom he accused of appointing his blood brother, Muhoho Kenyatta, to manage the agents.
Sifuna, speaking at a funeral in Mt Kenya, demanded a thorough audit of the 2022 presidential campaigns.
Equally, Sifuna also accused the party’s Director of Elections, Junet Mohammed, who was the Secretary General of the Azimio La Umoja Coalition, of bungling Raila Amolo Odinga’s bid by failing to pay presidential agents.
“The day we will start the audit of the 2022 elections, it is good you have started the debate. Let everyone say their contributions in the 2022 General Election,” Sifuna said.
But Junet, responding, said Uhuru released the agents’ funds to his brother and not to the secretariat.
“The answer is simple, clear and verifiable: former President Uhuru Kenyatta released the funds meant for election agents to his blood brother, Muhoho Kenyatta,” he said.
Junet said Muhoho Kenyatta appointed one Mr Patrick Mburu to take charge of the recruitment and payment of agents.
“Mr Mburu presented himself as an IT expert, claiming he had the capacity to detect and prevent any manipulation of results by the IEBC,” Junet said.
Sifuna accused Junet of derailing Raila’s presidential bid and blamed him for Azimio La Umoja’s failure to form the government.
“Some people feasted on then President Uhuru Kenyatta’s money. I know, as the Secretary General, the huge chunk of money we used in the campaigns came from Uhuru Kenyatta. You were eating Uhuru’s money instead of paying agents and allowed Wamunyoro (Rigathi Gachagua and President William Ruto) to defeat us,” Sifuna said.
Sifuna said Uhuru bankrolled Raila’s campaign and wondered why Junet had turned against him.
“Uhuru Kenyatta supported Raila’s campaign in all manner. But now there is one man, Junet Mohammed, who has woken up from sleep and realised how Uhuru Kenyatta’s money is now bad. I want to ask Junet Mohammed, when did Uhuru Kenyatta’s money start to be bad? Those days you used to take Uhuru’s money, some you didn’t bring to the party and some you squandered,” he said.
Junet claimed that at the time, Muhoho Kenyatta operated from an office in Westlands that was so restricted that even Raila Odinga, the party’s presidential candidate, could not access it freely.
“It is from this office — out of bounds for nearly all of us — that they claimed to handle the agents’ payments and other logistics. These are facts, not conjecture. I challenge Uhuru Kenyatta and Muhoho Kenyatta to publicly deny these facts,” he said.
Sifuna blamed Junet for undermining Raila’s chances of forming the government in the 2022 General Election.
“We are now mourning. If it was not for you, we could have formed the government,” he said.
Junet said once Muhoho took charge, they never procured any agents for Raila Odinga, not in Mt Kenya and not in Luo Nyanza, describing it as a long con game.
“Let the record also be set straight: Hon. Raila Odinga would have had no reason whatsoever to appoint me — Hon. Junet Mohammed — as the Leader of Minority in the National Assembly if I had truly betrayed him. For years, I handled all the delicate assignments from our late dear Party Leader with fidelity and diligence,” he said.
He challenged Uhuru, Muhoho and Mburu to come clean on the matter and deny his claims.
“I now call upon Uhuru Kenyatta, Muhoho Kenyatta, Patrick Mburu and Senator Edwin Sifuna to come clean. Kenyans deserve the truth about the handling of agents’ money; who controlled it, who mishandled it, and then decide who cost us the election,” he said.
Sifuna said Junet could not threaten him and must explain his role in the 2022 elections.
“In Nairobi, they say if you get a new sponsor, don’t abuse the one who removed you from the bedsitter,” he said.
But Junet, in his rejoinder, denied misusing the agents’ money and instead said Uhuru released the funds to his brother, who should be answerable.
“To date, Mr Mburu remains an aide of Uhuru Kenyatta. Just this past weekend, Mburu travelled to Nigeria in the company of Uhuru Kenyatta and Kalonzo Musyoka — clear evidence that he is not a peripheral figure in these matters,” Junet said.
After the General Election, the Azimio La Umoja Coalition dismissed allegations that some members of the secretariat squandered money budgeted for agents in the August 2022 elections.
This followed claims that top officials at the secretariat misused the funds, forcing some polling stations to miss out on agents.
Azimio spokesperson Prof Makau Mutua, in a statement then, defended Junet, who was on the receiving end of criticism.
“I have seen scurrilous attacks on Junet Mohammed accusing him of misappropriation of campaign funds meant for agents. Let me state without equivocation that Hon. Junet was a campaign leader in the field supporting Hon. Raila. He at no time handled the money meant for the agents, nor did he have anything whatsoever to do with the management of the agents,” the statement read.
Raila also came to Junet’s defence, saying the Suna East MP did not misappropriate campaign funds.
Raila’s chief agent in the August 9 elections, Saitabao Kanchory, claimed that ODM only listened to one person — Suna East MP Junet Mohamed.
“We could not have lost this election if it weren’t for three people. The first one is Junet Mohamed, the second is Joe Mucheru and the third is Makau Mutua. These are people I have worked with and respect, but in terms of responsibility, they take the highest responsibility,” he said on NTV.
According to Kanchory, Junet ran a one-man show and the former Prime Minister sided with everything he said, even when he could clearly see it was wrong.
“The only person Baba would listen to without question was Junet. Even if you had truth and you told Baba and Junet came with darkness, Baba would side with Junet,” he said.
“Junet Mohamed is one man who purported to know everything, and he nullified everything everyone said and also made sure he kept people who could have helped Baba (Raila) at arm’s length. He ensured nobody came close to Baba who would have helped him.”
