Stop being this reckless, Raila tells Matiang’i

Opposition leader Raila Odinga on Wednesday described Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i as “the personification of impunity” following his tirade over ‘an evil clique’ of judicial officers that the minister said were out to humiliate the government.

Dr Matiang’i on Tuesday met the National Assembly committee on security and complained of the conduct of at least five judges, whom he said have been captured by activist lawyers and members of the civil society to drag the Executive “by the collar through trial in the streets of public opinion”.

“The CS appeared before Parliament to answer questions pertaining to abuse of rights of citizens and undermining the rule of law,” Mr Odinga said in a statement.

“Instead, he came out as the personification of impunity. Parliament should not allow itself to be a platform for State officers to make attacks on other arms of government.”

MIGUNADEPORTED
Officials in the Interior ministry refused to comment on the matter or even go on record discussing Dr Matiang’i’s conduct at the parliamentary hearing.

Instead, a senior official told the Nation: “We will not respond to that. The statement is not even signed.”

Dr Matiang’i had been summoned to explain the circumstances surrounding the second deportation of opposition activist Miguna Miguna and a subsequent conviction for contempt of court of the minister, Inspector-General of Police Joseph Boinnet, and Immigration Principal Secretary Gordon Kihalang’wa.

But Dr Matiang’i said they were victims of an activist Judiciary, and that the government, in the Miguna case, had been condemned unheard.

COURT ORDERS
But Mr Odinga said Dr Matiang’i had been unnecessarily combative, and that he should not have used the privilege of parliamentary proceedings to attack and denigrate judges.

Instead, Mr Odinga said, the minister should have filed a complaint with the Judicial Service Commission or appeal any court decisions he is aggrieved with.

Dr Matiang’i had said that he had not been served with any of the court orders in the Miguna case, and that the government, through the Attorney-General, had filed a complaint against a judge he did not name and also appealed the decision by Justice George Odunga, who reported to his new Machakos station on Wednesday, to convict the trio.

Mr Odinga dragged his March 9 Harambee House handshake deal with President Uhuru Kenyatta into the Miguna issue, saying Dr Matiang’i had “failed terribly” in his conduct as far as what the two leaders had agreed on was concerned.

UNITY DEAL
Describing the minister’s comments and demeanour before the parliamentary committee as “irresponsible and reckless”, Mr Odinga said that Dr Matiang’i had gone against the deal to “get to the root of some of our deepest problems that seem to defy all forms of statutory and institutional reforms”.

“In our statement to the nation, President Kenyatta and I urged every leader and every Kenyan to embrace the responsibilities they know to be theirs and help the nation reconcile and make progress. Dr Matiang’i failed terribly in this,” Mr Odinga said.

But Ford-Kenya deputy party leader Boni Khalwale said the National Super Alliance leader was being dishonest.

“Raila is back-peddling. He was played, and we told him! This whole thing confirms that Raila expected too much from the so-called handshake, and now that he has seen that he cannot get much for his supporters, because he might have gotten something for himself, he is looking for a scapegoat and so he wants someone to blame,” Dr Khalwale said on Wednesday.

DIALOGUE
Ford-Kenya has called for a structured dialogue instead of the individual discussions between Mr Odinga and the President, and Dr Khalwale said that, while Mr Odinga had whipped his parliamentary group and the party governing council — the second most powerful organ of the party — to endorse the deal, President Kenyatta, on the other hand, had not called any organ of his own party to back the pact.

“(Dr) Matiang’i’s tone and demeanour when he appeared before Parliament confirms one thing: Parliament has been captured by the Executive,” Dr Khalwale said.

In the communique sent out after the Harambee House handshake between Mr Odinga and President Kenyatta, the two leaders agreed to address what they said was a lack of a national ethos, ethnic antagonism, divisive elections, devolution, inclusivity, shared prosperity, security, and human rights.

IMMIGRATION FRAUD
And Mr Odinga, while terming Dr Matiang’i’s conduct in Parliament as “distraught”, he also told the CS to stop attacking his predecessors at the ministry.

Dr Matiang’i, in what he said was a disturbing case that has now become “half of the president’s engagement with foreign leaders”, said his predecessors had committed a massive immigration fraud and “sold citizenship”.

“They sold passports left, right and centre,” he lamented.

But Mr Odinga told the CS that he should correct the ills he had noted rather than make a circus out of them.

The late Otieno Kajwang’, allied to Mr Odinga, was in charge of the immigration docket when Mr Miguna acquired his controversial Kenyan passport, and on Wednesday Mr Odinga asked Dr Matiang’i to stop maligning the dead as they cannot defend themselves.

“He should correct what he believes is a mistake and change the processes of the ministry so that those mistakes do not compromise the State,” he said.

Dr Matiang’i, continued Mr Odinga, should, as a leader, and following the unity deal with President Kenyatta, be more civil and sober.