Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition presidential candidate Raila Odinga raised hundreds of millions of shillings for his campaigns during an exclusive dinner in which attendees paid up to Sh1 million for a meal.
The Friday night fundraiser held at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi attracted deep-pocketed politicians and private sector tycoons mostly drawn from the Mt Kenya Foundation, a billionaires club patronised by businessmen from Central Kenya.
Mr Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua used the platform to spell out their strategy of fighting corruption should they form the next government, with corporate heads pushing the pair to elaborate their plans for fighting graft, which has been blamed for crippling the country’s struggling economy.
Attendees of the event and top officials of the Azimio coalition yesterday remained guarded on the total amount collected at the fundraiser that came only three weeks to the polls.
According to invitation cards for the dinner seen by the Sunday Nation, the attendees paid Sh10 million for 10 guests under the corporate category, Sh5 million for five guests under ‘premier’ category and Sh2 million for three guests under ‘platinum’ plan.
Under the ‘gold’ category, attendees paid Sh1 million for two guests and Sh500,000 for a single guest under the ‘silver’ category.
The head of Mr Odinga’s campaigns and Laikipia Governor Ndiritu Muriithi said the event, which started at about 6pm and ended at 11pm, attracted about 500 guests booked under both the corporate and individual categories.
A senior Azimio official said that some of the invited guests donated as high as Sh10 million each.
“I’m not authorised to talk about the total money raised but let me ask you, if one person could bring Sh10 million, what would 500 people bring?” posed the official.
Mr Odinga’s campaign secretariat spokesperson Prof Makau Mutua told the Sunday Nation that the fundraiser was a success. “I cannot say (the amount collected) but we exceeded our expectations,” said Prof Mutua
Some notable guests at the event included the Mt Kenya Foundation chairperson Peter Munga, Royal Media Services owner S.K Macharia, former Commissioner General of Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) Mr John Njiraini, Centum Investment chief executive officer James Mworia, chairman of the Nairobi Securities Exchange Mr Kiprono Kittony and businessman Sam Wakiaga.
The political class had Governors Muriithi (Laikipia), Charity Ngilu (Kitui), Anne Kananu (Nairobi), Cornel Rasanga (Siaya), James Ongwae (Kisii), Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya, Azimio executive director Raphael Tuju and former Cabinet minister Fred Gumo.
Also present were senior counsel, Prof Tom Ojienda, lawyer Jackson Awele and anti-graft crusader John Githongo, who delivered the headline speech. Mr Githongo, known for whistleblowing on major corruption scandals during the late President Mwai Kibaki’s administration, talked extensively about graft and how the Azimio government could escalate the war against theft of public funds should it form the next government.
Speeches were reportedly restricted at the dinner, with only Mr Githongo speaking before inviting Ms Karua, who then invited Mr Odinga to make his remarks. The brief speeches were followed by a question and answer session for the pair.
The high-profile dinner brings to memory that of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s invite-only fundraiser in the run up to the 2017 General Election that netted an estimated Sh1 billion in less than two hours. A number of faces that were at Mr Odinga’s fundraiser on Friday had been there in 2017 for the invite-only event for Mr Kenyatta. They include Mr Munga and Mr Njiraini. Exclusive fundraising dinners for leading presidential candidates have become the norm in recent years, with contributors seeing them as an opportunity to build rapport with potential presidents and ease their access to the administration.
Mr Muriithi said fundraising for political contestants could help to change the current trend, where it is the candidates who give voters handouts in an indirect purchase of their votes.
He said campaign financing has continued to perpetuate corruption since candidates tend to ‘recoup’ millions spent in their campaigns once they assume office.
“We believe very strongly that financing of politics can fan corruption. We’re trying to send a certain message to Kenyans that we must participate in funding politics, not expecting politicians to give us handouts,” said Mr Muriithi. “The main issue is not the amount of money we raised but to demonstrate our conviction of future campaign financing and to stop elections from fanning corruption. Our opponents still think that the right way to do politics is to loot parastatals and get money for their campaigns,” he added.
During the engagement, Mr Odinga told the corporate leaders that he will not spare even his close friends and family members in Azimio’s fight against corruption.
“As far as I am concerned, nobody is going to be indispensable including my own brothers and children as far as the war against corruption is concerned,” Mr Odinga told the guests.
Ms Karua said that all the electoral promises that politicians are making currently will “remain just hot air” without fighting corruption. Prof Mutua said that the event was organised by the Azimio campaign team led by its resource mobilisation committee.
“The turnout was fantastic and the support was excellent. We cannot be more pleased,” said Prof Mutua.
He added that the discussions centred on zero-tolerance against corruption as part of the Azimio agenda to revive the economy.
“The business community and the private sector acknowledged that no one can change the economic trajectory of this country without first dealing with corruption,” he said.
Prof Ojienda, who was in attendance, described the event as a “small fundraiser” that was largely attended by corporate leaders BY DAILY NATION