Miguna Miguna is his own worst enemy, declares Raila Odinga

Lawyer Miguna Miguna speaks to the media at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, on March 26, 2018. Opposition leader Raila Odinga has suggested that Mr Miguna was his own worst enemy for refusing to co-operate with Immigration officials. PHOTO | FILE | AFP

What you need to know:

  • The Opposition leader told his audience that upon enquiring from Mr Miguna where his passport was, he said he only had his national identity card.

  • Mr Odinga said the police officers said that if they allowed Miguna to enter the country without a passport, they would be in trouble with their seniors and it was then that they locked him in.

  • He also said the Miguna deportation saga had been blown out of proportion.

  • Mr Odinga asked Mr Miguna to take this travel papers to the Kenya High Commission in Ottawa, Canada, to be allowed re-entry to Kenya.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga has, for the first time, spoken publicly about the standoff and eventual deportation of controversial lawyer Miguna Miguna.

In a speech at King’s College, London, where he gave a talk on his “Building the Bridges” initiative with President Uhuru Kenyatta, Mr Odinga suggested that Mr Miguna was his own worst enemy for refusing to listen to advice and for refusing to co-operate with Immigration officials.

Mr Odinga also revealed previously unknown events at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on March 26, during the three-day standoff when Immigration officials refused to allow Mr Miguna into the country unless he applied for citizenship.

“I am the one who brought Miguna into Nasa, and Miguna was one of those who swore me in as the ‘People’s President’.  And I raised this issue with Uhuru Kenyatta, myself. I said Miguna must be part of the package of this handshake, and I talked to Miguna myself and told him to come back,’’ said Mr Odinga.

SECOND EJECTION

But the fiery lawyer, who watched the forum that was streamed live on the Daily Nation’s Facebook page on Friday, faulted Mr Odinga’s recount of events at JKIA that led to his second ejection from the country following hours of standoff, terming the narration “scandalous falsehoods and unbelievable”.

“I respect Raila Odinga as an elder. I am responding to the scandalous falsehoods and unbelievable claims he has made in London because I believe in honesty and truth,” said Mr Miguna.

Mr Odinga has been criticised by a section of his supporters for allegedly abandoning Mr Miguna even though he was among the handful of lawyers who braved a heavy security crackdown to conduct the mock swearing-in ceremony at Uhuru Park, Nairobi, on January 30.

Talking about Mr Miguna’s standoff with Immigration officials at JKIA, Mr Odinga said he took the opposition activist’s hand and, as they walked out, police officers closed the door telling him the lawyer was only required to comply with instructions to have his passport stamped to be allowed into the country.

IDENTITY CARD

The Opposition leader told his audience that upon enquiring from Mr Miguna where his passport was, he said he only had his national identity card.

Mr Odinga said the police officers said that if they allowed him to enter the country without a passport, they would be in trouble with their seniors and it was then that they locked him in.

The ODM boss went on to narrate his recollection of events as they unfolded during the second deportation and the minute he learnt that all efforts by his team of lawyers to clear Mr Miguna were futile.

“When I went to the airport, I found them somewhere inside, that is (Siaya Senator James) Orengo, (John) Khaminwa, and the other lawyer (Nelson) Havi. I asked them what was happening. Blah blah blah, then I grabbed Miguna’s hand, came out with him. But as we went they closed the door. Then they came and told me ‘mzee, sisi tuko na instructions kutoka juu, hatuna shida na bwana Miguna, tunataka tu atupatie sisi passport tupige stamp aende. (Sir, we are following instructions from our seniors. We have no problem with Mr Miguna. All we want is for him to hand over his passport for stamping, then we will let him go),” said Mr Odinga.

TROUBLE

“Then I asked Miguna ‘why don’t you give the passport to be stamped?’ “Oh, I don’t have a passport.” He only had an ID card. So then they said if we allow him they will be in trouble. As I sat there Miguna refused to cooperate and then they took him inside. I did not talk at that time. The following morning they invited officials from the Canadian High Commission to the airport who then gave Miguna forms to sign so they could be stamped but he tore them up,” said Mr Odinga.

He also said the Miguna deportation saga had been blown out of proportion and would have had a different outcome had the lawyer cooperated with Immigration officers and Canadian High Commission officials who sought to facilitate his re-entry.

Mr Odinga’s party ODM has supported his version of events. The party’s director of political affairs, Mr Opiyo Wandayi, called on Mr Miguna to “go slow” so that his problems could be dealt with.

“It is common knowledge that Mr Odinga did his best to have Miguna Miguna return to the country even going to the extent of going to JKIA to intervene. Therefore, I have every reason to believe that what he (Mr Odinga) is saying is correct. Perhaps my friend Miguna Miguna needs to tamper his zeal for justice with some diplomacy,” said Mr Wandayi. 

TRAVEL PAPERS

Speaking at the London forum, Mr Odinga asked Mr Miguna to take this travel papers to the Kenya High Commission in Ottawa, Canada, to be allowed re-entry to Kenya.

While Mr Miguna does not dispute that Mr Odinga took his hand and tried to escort him out of the airport that night, he took issue with the former Prime Minister’s claim that he refused to hand over his passport for stamping.

“It is completely unacceptable for Mr Odinga to minimise the barbaric treatment I have been subjected to by suggesting that all I am required to do is go to Ottawa and receive my Kenyan passport when (Immigration PS Gordon) Kihalang’wa has served a letter to me through the Kenya National Commission for Human Rights and my advocates stating that they will not issue me with a passport, and that they are continuing to disobey Justice Luka Kimaru’s order that quashed their purported cancellation of my citizenship,” said a statement sent to the Sunday Nation.

The controversial lawyer offered his own version of events saying that by the time Mr Odinga arrived at the JKIA after 10pm on March 26, he had been detained and refused entry by security forces for more than four hours.

PRODUCE PASSPORT

“Second, almost everything that transpired after my arrival was witnessed by my advocates, Mr Kamanda Mucheke of the KNCHR and the media. And none of them has corroborated Mr Odinga’s newly invented facts,” he said.

Mr Miguna has also termed false the claim that he was asked to produce his passport for stamping at the airport. He said Mr Odinga was aware that his Kenyan passport had been seized and perforated, and that despite a court order he had not been issued with a new travel document.

“It is not true that anybody asked me for anything at the airport. They simply refused to allow me entry. In fact they had already booked a return flight for me in the Air Dubai flight that was leaving that night, the one that they tried to force me into and I refused to board that day. This had already been done before I actually landed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. So, in other words, Raila Odinga had come there to supervise my torture, assault and forceful exile. This is unspeakable cruelty,” said Mr Miguna. 

ANOTHER STANDOFF

Mr Miguna had been expected to return on May 16 but, on the day he was to land, he announced that he had postponed his travel forestalling what could have been another standoff at JKIA. 

The Immigration Department has taken a hardline position that Mr Miguna has to apply for Kenyan citizenship before he can be issued with a passport, a position disputed by Mr Miguna, his lawyers and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) which has been working to secure Mr Miguna’s return as had been ordered by the courts.

“The department cannot issue Mr Miguna with a valid Kenyan passport as he has not made any application for the same. We reiterate that Mr Miguna has to regain his Kenyan citizenship before being issued with a Kenyan passport,” Mr Kihalangwa said last week.