MP Alfred Keter, 2 others arrested over forgery claims
What you need to know:
- Keter claimed that all he did was to take the two men to CBK to complain about unpaid T-Bills.
- Last month, the Jubilee Party oversaw his removal as chairman of the Labour and Social Welfare Committee
When Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter emerged from a room on the second floor of the Central Bank of Kenya headquarters in Nairobi on Friday mid-morning, he did little to hide the fact that his hands were in handcuffs.
However, he wore his usual smile even as television cameras rolled and photographers clicked away.
The man who is not a stranger to controversy looked unshaken.
On the ground floor later, as he waited for a van to take him to the Banking Fraud Investigations Unit at Marshalls House, his expression changed and the smile faded away.
He got a little agitated and forced his way to the microphones, when Mr Wallace Kantai, the head of communications at the Central Bank, stepped forward to tell journalists why the outspoken MP and two other men were in handcuffs.
“These three individuals presented a set of forged Treasury Bills, which were purportedly issued by the CBK a number of years ago. The total amount is Sh633 million,” Mr Kantai said.
MEDIA
Mr Keter was arrested alongside Mr Arthur Ingolo Sakwa, and Mr Madat Suburali Chatur.
The CBK said the three had presented the 90-day bills dated 1990.
The Chatur Group of Companies on Friday said Mr Madat Suburali Chatur was not related to their chairman, Mr Madat Saburali Chatur.
As Mr Kantai explained to journalists why the MP was in handcuffs, Mr Keter cut him short.
“Can I say something? I want to say something,” he said as he moved closer to the cameras.
Mr Kantai waved him off, but the MP tried to push harder, then gave up.
COMPLAINT
However, as he was taken into the waiting van together with the two other individuals, Mr Keter said he had committed no crime.
He claimed that he was just caught up in the fiasco, and that all he did was to take the two men to CBK to complain about unpaid T-Bills.
“I am not the one complaining. They were complaining and I brought them to the CBK to complain,” he said.
Sources at the bank said Mr Keter had been frequenting there to protest the non-payment of the Bills before it was discovered that they were forged.
It still remains unclear what exact role Mr Keter played to occasion the arrest, his connection with the two individuals and why they waited for 28 years to cash in T-Bills that matured 90 days after they were bought in 1990.
HOUSE COMMITTEE
Mr Keter’s arrest adds to a growing list of troubles that have befallen the MP in the recent past.
Last month, the Jubilee Party oversaw his removal as chairman of the Labour and Social Welfare Committee after President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered MPs to vote him out for going against the party.
But he protested the move, saying it was meant to allow cartels to thrive.
He was ousted alongside Moiben MP Silas Tiren at the Agriculture Committee, Kangogo Bowen (Marakwet East) at the Environment Committee and James Gakuya (Embakasi North) at the Broadcasting Committee.
CORRUPTION
In 2015, the outspoken MP, who was once suspended at Egerton University for leading a strike against the administration, got into trouble when he invoked President Kenyatta’s name, after he was caught on the wrong side at the Gilgil weighbridge on the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.
Mr Keter later accused the Jubilee government of failing to curb corruption in the standard gauge railway contract.
Mr Keter last year was politically emboldened after he beat a protégé of Deputy President William Ruto to win the Jubilee ticket for Nandi Hills.
