NAIROBI, Kenya- Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi has publicly backed former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s intervention on corruption in Northern Kenya, despite sharp political differences, calling for a national reckoning over what he says is the massive theft of public funds meant for the region.
Ahmednasir said that although he and Gachagua are “on opposite sides of the political divide”, they share a common understanding of the deep-rooted challenges facing Northern Kenya, particularly corruption by local political elites.
“Politically, we do not see things from the same prism,” Ahmednasir said.
“But when it comes to the problems of Northern Kenya, we read from the same script.”
The outspoken lawyer said decades of historical neglect had contributed to the region’s underdevelopment, but argued that corruption by leaders from the area had played an equally destructive role.
According to Ahmednasir, more than Sh1 trillion has been allocated to Northern Kenya counties since the introduction of devolution in 2013, through county budgets, Constituency Development Fund (CDF), donor funding and central government grants.
“A forensic audit will sadly show that 90% of these funds were wasted or misappropriated,” he claimed.
He accused political leaders in the region of stealing from some of Kenya’s poorest communities while escaping accountability, saying corruption had been normalised and even celebrated.
“In Kenya, thieves are revered and not prosecuted,” the lawyer said.
The lawyer sharply criticised the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), questioning its credibility and commitment to fighting graft in the region.
He cited a recent report allegedly ranking Marsabit as the least corrupt county in Kenya, calling the findings implausible.
“Can anyone take EACC seriously?” he asked. “Instead of fighting corruption, it is laundering it.”
The lawyer called on Gachagua to escalate his campaign against corrupt leaders in Northern Kenya and urged the government to take ownership of the issue rather than leaving it to one political actor.
“I plead with Gachagua to take this fight to the next level,” he said, proposing a national convention and a kamukunji to interrogate how the Sh1 trillion allocated to the region was spent, including whether the funds were invested outside the region in places such as Nairobi or Dubai.
Politically, H.E RIGATHI GACHAGUA @rigathi and myself are on opposite side of the political divide. He is a Wamunyoroist, while I support H.E @WILLIAMSRUTO‘s government 100%. We don’t see things from the same prism. But Gachagua and myself see and read from the same script when
He also questioned the track record of anti-corruption agencies in the North, asking whether state institutions had failed the region or were complicit in the alleged looting.
“What is the record of EACC in fighting corruption in Northern Kenya?” he asked. “Is the commission an active accomplice in the larceny visited upon poor people of the North?”
He warned that continued silence on corruption would perpetuate what he described as a “corruption genocide” against the people of Northern Kenya, and called on President Ruto’s administration to confront the issue openly.
“The government should not allow this burning and popular topic to be monopolised by one individual,” he said.
“Now is the time to speak about it — and fight it.”
