Wetangula Denies Links With Greek Company Awarded Ballot Printing Tender

Bungoma senator Moses Wetangula has vehemently denied any business ties to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.

The senator on Wednesday said that a Daily Nation piece linking him to a Greek company hired to print ballots for the August general election was untrue.

Wetangula also asked the Raila Odinga-led Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) to refrain from involving him in their election-related issues.

“ODM must keep me out of their election woes and come to the reality that they are once again starring at a disastrous election outing,” said the legislator.

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The former minority leader in the senate also denied any links with an individual identified as  Joshua Abdalla Makokha.

The daily revealed that the Ford-Kenya party leader wrote to the Greek ambassador to Kenya, Mr Antonios Sgourpoulos, on June 10, 2021, pushing to have Mr Makokha, issued with a Schengen visa to enable him to travel to Athens, Greece.

“I have never had any business relationship with IEBC. I know nothing about ballot printing or any printing business for that matter!! I have no relationship of any kind with the person named in the story as Joshua Abdalla Makokha,” he said.

The daily claimed that Mr Makhoha met with three Greek businessmen; Mr Awa David Anderson, Mr Antonio Ramon Fernandez and Mr Gkrekis Konstantinos, who allegedly own Inform Lykos (Hellas) SA, the company awarded the ballots tender in October last year.

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Suna East MP Junet Mohamed on Tuesday stated that the senator invited the Greeks to Kenya in January 2021 to discuss “investment opportunities”.

Nine months later, the foreigners, Junet said, were awarded the lucrative ballots tender.

But according to Wetangula, the Nation report is meant to serve as a diversion from the main election problems, which include battling corruption, high cost of living, debt burden, state capture, and conflicts of interest in the management of public affairs.

“Furthermore, there appears to be a hopelessly spirited malicious witch-hunt against leaders holding political opinions that are seen as going against or challenging the so-called system,” added Wetangula.

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In the statement, the Bungoma senator said that he had given his attorneys instructions to sue Daily Nation.

“If any letters were written on letterheads indicating they are from the Bungoma senator’s office, they must be forgeries!! I have never written such letters. I do not and I repeat, I do not know the three foreigners being referred to,” Wetangula said.

According to the damning report, all the letters and invites were printed on the Bungoma Senator’s official Senate letterhead.

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