Miguna stings Raila in new book

By David Ohito

 Nairobi: Kenya: Miguna Miguna is back with yet another book that hits the bookstores this weekend. Like expected he is bold, curt and launches another stinging attack on Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Miguna Miguna is on a literary war path in his new book Kidneys for the King- deforming the status quo which comes just months after the controversial Peeling Back The Mask which made headlines last year.

Published by Integrity Books, Miguna Miguna has readied the launch of his 370 page book which delves into the politics in government at Panafric Hotel on Saturday where he will officially unveil his latest literary work. The book will retail at USD 27 about Sh850 for the paperback edition.

“Everybody is waiting for my book and it will be launched this weekend. People know the quality of my work and writing and they will buy it I am certain,” Miguna said in an interview.

Known for his outspoken approach, Miguna Miguna stirred the hornets’ nest when while serving as advisor to Raila on constitutional and legal affairs but was suspended in an unclear manner.

It is interesting how he has changed the spelling of Raila’s name to Rayila.

His first book was published by Gilgamesh Publishing and stirred controversy moments after launch and was further greeted with mixed feelings as he promoted it in various counties across the country.

Miguna Miguna served as a senior advisor for coalition, constitutional and legal affairs to the Prime Minister between March 2008 and August 2011.

Excerpts of Kidneys for the King mailed to the media include touchy issue of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the visit last October by the court’s prosecutor.

Here are the excerpts:

“Later, however, as I met the investigators in Nairobi when the ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, visited Kenya in October 2012, they suddenly showed no interest “in evidence that will not help us nail the four accused persons”. They weren’t interested in any evidence against Prime Minister Raila Odinga. It was quite clear to me that a decision had been made (somewhere) to extend immunity to the two coalition partners. Yet I knew that under the Rome Statute, no one—not even a sitting president like al-Bashir of Sudan, was entitled to immunity. “Why are the rules being bent in the Kenyan case,” I asked myself...”(...)

In Chapter six entitled the ‘Nettle sting’ he recounts the academic journey of his former boss Raila saying: “Rayila was expelled in grade six, two years before he could sit for his KAPE. Only those who passed KAPE could proceed to secondary school. Those who passed competitive examinations in secondary school could proceed to high school. And it was only successful high school graduates who would proceed to colleges and universities. It’s unclear from Badejo’s book, the story Rayila told me, and the information in his resume if Rayila did and passed the Competitive Entrance Examination (CEE), which was done in grade four before a pupil could proceed from primary to intermediate level. Needless to say, by the time Rayila left Kenya for the GDR, he hadn’t completed intermediate school and wasn’t qualified to proceed to high school. This begs the question: how did Rayila proceed to high school in the GDR?

“IT IS NOT A CRIME to be wealthy”, Rayila declares in Badejo’s book. “We should encourage that under a free enterprise system. The problem arises when people use office to accumulate”, he added.

“ That’s a classical refrain from many people in Kenya who cannot convincingly explain the sources of their fabulous wealth.

“Rayila had given that “explanation” on the Kenya Television Network (KTN) on November 21, 2002. Badejo quoted it with approval at page 280 of his book on Rayila. On a quick reading, we might not have any serious problems with that statement. Rayila probably meant that acquiring wealth irregularly while holding public office is a crime. Yes, it is. However, the real elephant in the room is how Rayila Odinga himself acquired his billions in the past twenty years...”(...)