Jubilee and Cord MPs trade blame on Ruto case

Ten Cord MPs on Wednesday claimed that allegations by Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria that Mr Raila Odinga procured witnesses to fix Mr William Ruto was an attempt to placate the Deputy President’s supporters ahead of the 2017 elections.

However, about 30 Jubilee MPs — led by Majority Leader Aden Duale — hit back at their opposition colleagues, demanding that Mr Odinga record a statement over the Ruto case.

Mr Duale said neither Mr Odinga nor Ms Martha Karua, who was also adversely mentioned by Mr Kuria, could hide from the claim that they were part of a plot to incriminate Mr Ruto and five other Kenyans, who were initially taken to the International Criminal Court.

Mr Duale — a former ODM lawmaker — said it was not enough for Mr Odinga to call Mr Ruto his “comrade”. He said Mr Odinga should go ahead and record a statement with investigative and judicial institutions, which would lead to Mr Ruto being acquitted of the crimes against humanity charges in the ICC.

CLAIMS REJECTED

They also defended President Uhuru Kenyatta against claims made by Mr Odinga on Tuesday that it was he, the President, who actually fixed Mr Ruto. Mr Odinga had claimed that Mr Kuria, acting at the behest of Mr Kenyatta, had procured witnesses to “fix” Mr Ruto.

They also said that Mr Kuria had never worked for Mr Kenyatta. According to them, he had worked for Ms Karua, then the Justice minister.

Both Mr Kuria and Ms Karua were affiliated with PNU at the time. According to the MPs, the two had worked for PNU to procure witnesses to give evidence on behalf of the party to the Waki Commission, which investigated the 2007-2008 post-election violence.

The MPs also told Mr Odinga not to abandon Mr Ruto, who campaigned for him, and contributed to him sharing power with President Mwai Kibaki in the Grand Coalition government as prime minister.

Separately, former Gatanga MP David Murathe also denied claims that Mr Kuria worked for Mr Kenyatta at his UK Centre.

'PNU ACTIVIST'

“Let it be made very clear that Moses Kuria never worked at the UK Centre as alleged by Raila. It must also be made clear that the UK Centre was never based at the Baden Powell House.

The UK Centre was based at the Red Cross House, unless Raila is talking of a different UK Centre,” said Mr Murathe, a close ally of the President.

He said that Mr Kuria was a PNU activist at the time he is alleged to have been employed at the UK Centre.

“I was the director of the UK Centre during that time and I know who we worked with and did not work with,” he said.

Later in the day, the 10 ODM lawmakers, led by chairman John Mbadi, said that the efforts by Mr Kuria with the support of the country’s top leadership, were meant to placate Mr Ruto’s supporters that the government was making efforts to rescue him from the ICC so as to win their support in the 2017 elections.

They asked President Kenyatta to show support for Mr Ruto, by dealing with those in government, including the presidential adviser on governance, Ms Nancy Gitau, and suspended Defence PS Mutea Iringo, who have been cited as having helped to fix Mr Ruto at the ICC.

'NATIONAL JOKE'

“President Kenyatta needs to come out clean and deal with those in the State machinery who have been cited by Mr Ruto’s lawyers at the ICC as having helped fix the Deputy President,” said Mr Mbadi, the Suba MP.

In a statement, the MPs said Mr Odinga should be left out of claims that he helped fix Mr Ruto, since the Deputy President was in ODM, and there was no way Mr Odinga would have fixed his chief lieutenant.

Nyaribari Masaba MP Timothy Bosire accused the government of turning a serious national matter into a “national joke” for the benefit of only one side of the coalition.

Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma said the Opposition would not allow the President to use the same tricks his team used in 2013, to win elections by accusing Mr Odinga of being behind their woes at the ICC.

The MPs also claimed that the statements by Mr Kuria were meant to prepare the country, especially supporters in the URP strongholds, for any looming judgment by the ICC, that could be unfavourable to the Deputy President.