In the process, Higher Education Minister William Ruto’s name was dragged into the mudslinging.
The clash was reminiscent of the proverbial contest between a kettle and a pot over which is blacker, and ignited Parliament, with fellow Members of Parliament clearly enjoying the standoff, even as a credible source told The Standard the new MP still has a case to answer in court.
The Narc-Kenya leader kicked things off when she claimed there were corrupt ministers in Government who should not hold office under the new Constitution, only for Raila to tell Ms Karua that not even Narc-Kenya is immune from the high standards of integrity she expects of Cabinet.
Raila implied that Karua’s party was tainted by having Mr Gidion Mbuvi Kioko as its MP for Makadara while Karua responded by claiming that the Higher Education minister was tarred by the brush of corruption.
Some MPs howled and jeered when the former Justice minister claimed the integrity threshold for MPs is lower than that for ministers and appointed public officers under the new laws.
But even as the two leaders traded words in Parliament, a former policeman who investigated newly elected Kioko, alias ‘Sonko’, over alleged forgery, told The Standard the case is still pending.
Retired Police Inspector Mohamed Dida, said a warrant of arrest issued against the MP by then Mombasa Principal Magistrate Justin Kaburu has not been enacted.
"I was the investigating officer in his case, and I know the man has never been prosecuted," Mr Dida said on Wednesday.
Dida, who is now a private investigator, recalled how Mbuvi’s co-accused remained in custody after his bond was cancelled, and he was later jailed for four years.
He said apart from escaping from Shimo La Tewa Prison, while serving six months for escaping from lawful custody, Sonko’s criminal charges are still pending.
by false pretence
The new MP faced a second charge of obtaining Sh3 million by false pretence from a Mombasa businessman.
The third charge was of presenting an altered document to the businessman pretending it was a title deed for Mr Hinga’s plot.
"I have watertight evidence against the MP because I am the one who arrested him with his co-accused at a law firm in Pali House along Nyerere Avenue," Dida told The Standard.
Back in Parliament, Karua turned the heat on the media on casting doubt on the integrity "about one of our MPs" in apparent reference to reports linking Sonko to past jail breaks, forgery and other crimes.
But the former officer rubbished Mbuvi’s certificate of good conduct, saying whoever issued it did not do a background check on the man.
"I am the one who took Mbuvi’s fingerprints, which are at police headquarters, showing the man faces criminal charges in court," said Dida.
and his co-accused
He recalled how they laid ambush for him and his co-accused at Pali House, after a lawyer reported the land sale at Urban Criminal Investigation Department office.
The lawyer became suspicious as the man posing as Bernard Hinga was young, yet he knew Hinga had retired from the Police Department.
"We ambushed them when they were going to receive the second batch of Sh3 million, from a lawyer who prepared the sale agreement," said Dida.
He said they had received the first batch, since the plot was sold for Sh6 million.
The witnesses who testified in the case included the lawyer, Hinga, and officers from the Ministry of Lands.
He said Mbuvi’s lawyer Gachaku Gakui gave a spirited defence, but there was overwhelming evidence.
In response to Karua’s statement, Raila said it was political parties, and not the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) who should be held accountable for the calibre and records of their candidates, in apparent reference to the recent by elections.
Raila pricked the MP to the quick when he challenged her to remove "the log in our own eyes" before attacking the Government, and declared that political parties which nominate tainted candidates to contest parliamentary elections "are themselves complicit in compromising Chapter 6 of the new Constitution [on integrity]."
There were further howls when Karua declared in Parliament that Narc-Kenya did not nominate anyone "not qualified" to be an MP under relevant electoral laws.
And MPs watched in awe and bemused silence as she argued that her Narc-Kenya’s recently elected MPs came to Parliament under laws that do not require the stringent integrity levels expected of ministers under the new charter.
Karua sparked the row during the PM’s Question Time when she challenged the Government to sack tainted ministers and public officers facing criminal proceedings over corruption and economic crimes.
Karua argued that the Government flouted Section 6 of the new charter and the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes and Public Officers Ethics Acts, which she said disallows appointment of tainted public officers.
"I am aware there are several people in Cabinet [facing economic crimes charges], Karua charged and added "what are these characters doing in Government?"
facing criminal charges
Karua then accused the PM of mischief when Raila said he is not aware of any "Cabinet minister" facing criminal charges.
She said it was a matter of public record that Higher Education Minister William Ruto was charged with economic crimes, but Raila said the Eldoret North MP had challenged the charges in a constitutional court and the matter was pending.
Speaker Kenneth Marende said it was erroneous to suggest MPs elected under the old Constitution were elected on a low moral threshold.
"Many of us are here because we are highly qualified," Marende said and challenged the Gichugu MP to state if she entered Parliament "because standards were low."
Karua said she was not excusing any form of dishonour in public life, but added that the only qualification a candidate requires to contest a parliamentary election are to be a citizen of Kenya and pass a literacy test among other conditions.
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