Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has issued a stern warning to President William Ruto regarding his governance approach, cautioning him about potential legal consequences post-presidency.
During an appearance on Citizen TV’s ‘The Big Conversation’ show on Wednesday night, Omtatah advised the President to avoid implementing policies that contravene the Constitution.
The senator emphasized that persistent disregard for the country’s guiding legal framework in government affairs could lead to serious repercussions, including imprisonment, once Ruto’s term concludes.
Omtatah pointed out the precedent set by several former South Korean presidents who have faced jail time after their terms ended due to their actions while in office. He urged President Ruto, who is currently on an official visit to South Korea, to reflect on these examples and reconsider any attempts to deviate from constitutional governance.
The senator’s remarks underscore the importance of adherence to legal and constitutional standards in the execution of governmental duties, highlighting the potential legal liabilities that can arise from non-compliance.
“We have a Constitution in this country, and within that Constitution there are measures to punish these people (the government). There’s going to come a time when we shall put them in jail for what they’e doing today,” said Omtatah.
“President Ruto is in South Korea, let him ask himself how many former presidents of South Korea have gone to jail. As he wants to admire South Korea, he must also there’s a side where rogue presidents are jailed and punished. So does President Ruto want to be jailed when he leaves office? That’s the question he should ask himself. He must obey the Constitution, there’s no way out.”
Senator Okiya Omtatah has criticized the ongoing debate over the Finance Bill 2024, labeling it as a diversionary tactic by the government to distract Kenyans from alleged large-scale corruption within the budget.
Speaking on Citizen TV’s ‘The Big Conversation’ show on Wednesday night, Omtatah argued that the public should consider the Finance Bill a non-issue and instead focus on what he described as “budget corruption,” which he claims will cost the country nearly Ksh.100 billion.
Omtatah suggested that the government’s emphasis on the Finance Bill is a strategic move to prevent scrutiny of financial mismanagement and looting hidden in the budget. He urged Kenyans to direct their attention towards uncovering and addressing these budgetary discrepancies, which he believes pose a significant economic threat to the nation.
“In discussing this (Finance) Bill, I would like everybody to go to the website of the Treasury, you’ll find five books there that contain budget estimates of the current government, that we’re supposed to be discussing but instead we’re being taken the wrong way to discuss the Finance Bill which is premature; you cannot have a Finance Bill without a budget you want to finance,” he noted.
“It is about 4,500 pages, I’ve read through all of them, and on my first reading, I’ve identified about Ksh.100 billion that is being stolen in two items. One of them is on the repayment of debt, there’s about Ksh.40 billion there that you cannot explain, double repayment.”
He added: “When you come down, there are other things they call ‘other expenses.’ The law requires that every item that are going to be identified. So you cannot have ‘other expenses,’ you must tell us this Ksh.10 is going to buy a glass. So ‘other expenses’ is what we call budgeted
