Miguna flies out as row rages over his memoirs

• Former PM’s aide flies to Holland with his family, says he’s on tour to promote his new book

Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s former aide Miguna Miguna left the country on Monday night as a storm raged over his controversial book.

Accompanied by his wife and three children, Mr Miguna left aboard a KLM flight to the Netherlands that departed from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at around 11pm.

He flew out amid a furore raised by his book, Peeling Back The Mask: A Quest for Justice in Kenya, on his time as Mr Odinga’s advisor before the two fell out last year.

Kenya Airports Police Unit and immigration department officers said the Migunas told them they would be away for about a month.

On his Facebook page, Mr Miguna quashed speculation that he had fled the country. He said he left via JKIA which has police officers, immigration officers, the NSIS, and other State institutions. “Why did they not arrest me if I was in fact a fleeing fugitive?” he asked.

He said he was on a promotional tour of his book. Mr Miguna lived in Canada as an exile for 20 years. He returned to Kenya in 2007.

His departure came just a day after Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko directed police boss Mathew Iteere to question him over claims that he had evidence on the 2008 post-election violence.

In a quick rejoinder, Mr Miguna said: “Does Tobiko or Iteere work for the ICC? How does he know I haven’t spoken with the ICC? Jokers! That’s all I can say for now!”

Mr Miguna had on Saturday, during the launch of the book, said he was privy to the ODM campaign strategies and was present when the party declared that the 2007 General Election was a contest of 41 tribes against one.

“I can take every leader to The Hague, they should actually kiss my feet... They actually begged me to go back to office when they knew that I could spill the beans,” he said at Hotel Inter-Continental in Nairobi.

Mr Iteere said he received the letter from Mr Tobiko on Tuesday.

“We then realised he (Miguna) had left the country at 10.30pm (Monday). We believe he is not going to stay there (abroad) for long and hope to get a statement from him. We expect him to tell us what he knows,” he said.

Mr Miguna, he added, was not being treated as a suspect and police only wanted to get information from him after which they would know what action to take.

Responding to Ms Sarah Elderkin’s articles on him, Mr Miguna described them as “hateful, barbaric, dangerous and lacking respect for human rights.

In a related development, former anti-graft czar John Githongo said security concerns raised by Mr Miguna should not be ignored.

Mr Miguna had claimed that his life was in danger because of the information he revealed in the book. Mr Githongo, the Anglo-Leasing scandal whistle-blower, said the former PM’s adviser had made himself a target.

“I have not read Mr Miguna’s book, but I know that threats are given to stop information that is of public interest,” said the former permanent secretary for Governance and Ethics who was the subject of It’s Our Turn to Eat, a book about his time in President Kibaki’s State House, written by Michela Wrong.

Civil society groups also accused the DPP of playing politics.