Ruto: Why I won't quit the Cabinet

A defiant Higher Education minister William Ruto on Saturday said he would not resign from the Cabinet over an impending criminal prosecution.

Maintaining his innocence in the Sh272 million fraud case, Mr Ruto said the suit was politically-motivated and questioned why it has been dragging in court for close to seven years.

According to the minister, the verdict did not take him by surprise and he has learnt “to live with the tag” since 2004 when he was charged before a Nairobi court.

The Eldoret North MP said there was nothing new to warrant his resignation from government. “It has taken this long so that every year, Kenyans would be reminded that there is a certain case Mr Ruto is facing. But there is nothing new in it,” he said.

He said he was ready to face the charges and defend himself against the allegations before the trial magistrate although his lawyer, Mr Katwa Kigen, had sought and was granted permission by the court to lodge an appeal.

Mr Ruto, who arrived in Nairobi on Saturday afternoon from an official visit to Japan, said there has been an inordinate delay in the case because politics was involved. “There is a propensity to get me out… I don’t know why,” he said at his Jogoo House office.

He said when he was elected the MP for Eldoret North in 2007, the case was pending in court and he was appointed to the Cabinet as the case was being heard. He said he took the oath of office on August 27 after the promulgation of the new Constitution yet the case was still in court.

He ignored suggestions that he had not been suspended in line with the new Constitution because he had obtained a stay from the High Court to allow him challenge the fraud charges. “I still am innocent. It is not a long time to wait… it is good to wait,” he said suggesting that Kenyans should wait for him to be cleared or condemned by the trial court.

Section 62 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act says that any public officer who is charged with corruption or economic crime shall be suspended at half pay, with effect from the date of the charge.

Mr Ruto said his case should not be likened to that of suspended assistant minister Wilfred Machage because his (Mr Ruto’s) was about politics. “They (senior government officials) made it known to me in 2003,” he said.

The minister and four other persons and companies associated with them are accused of fraud in a land deal involving the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC). The company is alleged to have lost some Sh272 million in the land deal at Ngong Forest.

Mr Ruto is said to have received Sh96 million after the alleged sale between August 6 and September 6, 2001. His co-accused include former aide to retired President Daniel arap Moi and Baringo Central MP Sammy Mwaita who has been charged with abuse of office.

Mr Mwaita was the Commissioner of Lands when he allegedly committed the offence. While addressing the press on Saturday, Mr Ruto wondered why alleged beneficiaries of the remaining 95 acres of the parcel had not been charged in court.

According to Mr Ruto, his alleged detractors were accusing him in connection with five acres only. “If this is not discrimination then what is it?” he asked. 

Mr Ruto further said he did not receive any money but hinted that the alleged beneficiaries of the sale had admitted receiving the money. “The money was not paid in cash. You can track the cheques that were issued,” he said.

The minister said the title deeds issued after the sale had not been challenged but he was the only one in court fighting for his innocence. “When you come from a background such as mine, you are condemned from every corner. Others have godfathers,” he said without elaborating.

Looking tired after the long trip, Mr Ruto kept on cracking jokes with journalists, calling some by their names. He joked: “If this is not discrimination, my friends, then tell me, what is?”

In a black striped T-shirt, and beige trousers, the embattled minister said he had decided to call the press conference to set the record straight. “I have come to you. I don’t want you to call me,” he said.

The Sunday Nation sought a response from State House and the Prime Minister’s Office on the fate of the minister, but by the time we went to press, they had not responded.

Dr Wilfred Machage, who remains suspended as assistant minister in the Roads docket, was suspended a day after he was charged in court with incitement.