A Cabinet minister yesterday told the government not to extradite Nambale MP Chris Okemo to the UK. Sports minister Paul Otuoma said the government should first conduct a thorough probe to establish whether the alleged money laundering crimes were committed by both Okemo and former KPLC boss Samuel Gichuru.
A court in Jersey island in the UK has issued warrants of arrest for both in connection with monies deposited in accounts in the island which are claimed to have been the proceeds from corruption. Gichuru was the MD of KPLC from 1984 to 2003 while Okemo was the Minister for Energy at the time. “Until he is proven guilty in Kenya, we will stand by him to the end because we want the due process of law to be followed and as the local son of this region, I’ll demand that the MP be treated justly,” said the minister who handed over youth enterprise cheques to groups in Busia county.
Noting that he was alarmed by the speed at which the government was proceeding to have the two face the law in foreign land, Otuoma accused his colleagues of doubled standards. “It is not lost to Kenyans the manner in which the government moved to block the trial of the suspects of the post election masterminds at the Hague but now when it is the other side, it appears the same government is discriminating against its own citrizens,” said Otuoma, the Funyula MP. He argued that the crimes Okemo and Gichuru face are not as serious as those facing the Ocampo Six.
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