Raila avoids courtroom battle with
Miguna
Related
News
· Palaver
SHARE THIS STORY
Updated 1 hrs 16 mins ago
By
Martin Mutua and Allan Kisia
Prime Minister Raila Odinga tactfully avoided a potentially
explosive face-off with his former aide Miguna Miguna by declaring he would not
sue him for defamation.
By invoking his history in liberation movements and defence of
basic rights and freedoms, part of which he said Miguna enjoyed in writing the
book, Raila appeared more keen to steer his presidential campaign off courtroom
battles that could hurt his family and personal reputation.
It is also believed the PM was avoiding a
situation where he would give Miguna the platform to argue out his unflattering
claims against him, associates and family.
By suing Miguna the PM would have let himself
into a situation where he would face his bitter aide in court, who would
predictably try to corner him on every claim.
The litany of allegations against the PM are
contained in Miguna’s book, Peeling Back the Mask: A Quest for Justice in
Kenya, assaults Raila’s credentials as “a politician who is clean as cotton
wool”.
With the PM now steering away from the courts
over Miguna book, Kenyans will now be watching to see if his top aides and
associates mentioned adversely would take cue or exercise their own right to
defend their reputations.
They include PM’s Chief of Staff Caroli Omondi,
Government Chief Whip (ODM) Jakoyo Midiwo, and Cabinet ministers James Orengo,
Otieno Kajwang’, and Anyang’ Nyong’o.
Also in the same bracket is the Permanent Secretary
in the PM’s office Mohammed Isahakia, and members of PM’s family, including his
wife, Ida, whom Miguna said ordered a ferry already sailing on Lake Victoria to
pick her on the shores and then proceeded to offload Agriculture minister Sally
Kosgei’s car to create room for her entourage.
The accusations Miguna has leveled against the
PM in his book is that he knew about the multi-million shilling maize scandal,
and that he had appointed his relatives to Public Service positions.
He also accuses Raila of being a flip-flopping
politician who one the one hand preaches integrity, but also dines and wines
with the corrupt.
On the negotiations leading to power-sharing
deal with President Kibaki that created Grand Coalition Government, Miguna
accuses Raila of having lost out because he was cowardly and unfocused. But
Raila has previously said he agreed to negotiate for peace in 2008 because he
wanted to save the country.
Ugly thorns
Yesterday PM’s legal advisor Paul Mwangi said in
a statement that Raila had accepted to bear the hurt of defamation, as he
champions the Bill of Rights in the Constitution.
He added the PM would rather not take any action
that may undermine freedom of expression and of the Press.
“The Prime Minister feels strongly that we must
open a new chapter in the freedom of expression and of the Press. Without free
exchange of ideas, this country will not move to become a first world country,”
stated Mwangi.
Mwangi pointed out that Raila viewed Miguna’s
book as, “the ugly thorns that grow on the bushes of the beautiful roses of
freedom”.
“So critical is the freedom of expression to the
development of society that President Thomas Jefferson once remarked that if he
had to choose between a government without newspapers and newspapers without a
government, he would take his chance with the latter,” Mwangi explained.
He, however, noted that the position taken by PM
on the book and the author should not be taken as a license for any person,
publication or media to publish libelous information.
Mwangi said defamation lawsuits are not
acceptable reactions by public officials in a democratic society. “They are in
the constitutional law of developed democracies largely outlawed,” he stated.
Civil liberties
He added: “This is not the law in Kenya, and we
have had instances in the past where heavy and punitive damages have been
awarded in favour of public officials whose reputations have been injured. And
although the law in Kenya still allows defamation suits by public officials,
the overall effect on the freedom of the Press has been negative.”
Mwangi further said it is in consideration of
the need to foster civil liberties as contained in the new Constitution that
Kenyans promulgated two years ago that the PM had decided that he should not
pursue any legal proceedings against Miguna.
“The exercise of any liberty carries with
it the danger that it shall be abused. This is actionable in almost all
instances, but for where the abuse occurs in the process of the scrutiny of a
public official,” he added.
He noted that constitutionalism has decreed
scrutiny of public officials is so fundamental to democracy that the law will
compromise the interests of public officials, even when they are subjected to
abuse rather than risk the danger of stifling debate.
Quoting former US President James Madison,
Mwangi said, “Some degree of abuse is inseparable from the proper use of
everything, and in no instance is this more true than in that of the Press.”
Mwangi said a few people know the tribulations
of being a public figure.
“We read about public figures every day, their
words and deeds; their wives and children, friends and accomplices, but rarely
do we stop to understand the psychological toll that comes with living one’s
life under such public exposure,” he argued.
Last week Caroli instructed Nairobi lawyer
George Oraro to sue Miguna for defamation.
In his instructions to Oraro, Omondi also wants
action taken against the Nation Media Group for publishing Miguna’s allegations
against him.
Omondi argued the allegations had injured his
character, and wanted criminal and civil proceedings instituted against Miguna,
NMG, and Gilgamesh Africa, the publishers of the book.
He instructed Oraro to brief the Director of
Public Prosecutions, the Media Council of Kenya, and the police over the
allegations to open criminal proceedings.
Miguna, in his book, alleges that Omondi is
corrupt, links him to the maize scandal and questions how he acquired his
wealth while at the PM’s office.
“His take home pay was less than
Sh300,000. By April 2009, Caroli had worked for the OPM for exactly two years.
Even if he was saving 90 per cent of his
net income — an impossible feat in any society — he would still not have made
Sh800 million within two years,” Miguna claims in his book.
Miguna also claims that Omondi had acquired the
Heron Court Hotel, which is situated in Nairobi, a fact the PM’s aide denies.
Owners of the hotel have since disowned
the claim in advertisement, which the media house did not publish.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment