By Lucianne Limo

President Kibaki’s family has made good its threat to sue former Kabete MP Paul Muite for allegedly connecting them with the infamous raid on the Standard Group.

Through Mohammed Muigai Advocates, the President’s four children have given the former legislator and senior counsel seven days to apologise to the First Family or risk court proceedings.

In a quick rejoinder, Muite fired back saying he would not apologise and that the lawyers should go ahead and file the defamation suit.

In his rejoinder, Muite, through his lawyer Gitobu Imanyara, says: "It will be vigorously and robustly defended at your client’s risk as to costs and all other consequences ensuing there from."

In the demand letter sent to Muite yesterday morning, the law firm said they were acting on behalf of Judith Wanjiku, James Kibaki, David Kagai and Anthony Githinji.

The four siblings accuse Muite of making defamatory statements against the First Family on March 2 during the third anniversary of the raid on the Standard Group.

"The effect and purport of the statements were in a nutshell that our clients were involved in the raid on the Standard Group three years ago," stated the demand letter.

"In their natural and ordinary sense or by necessary implication, the words meant and indeed were understood to mean that our clients were involved in the raid of the Standard Group, that they are connected to the Armenian Artur brothers and that they partake in criminal activities like destruction of property," added the letter.

The four siblings said they are aggrieved by Muite’s allegations, saying the utterances have dealt a big blow to their reputation.

"Such imputations inevitably lower the reputation of any person about whom they are spoken, but in these circumstances, having regard to our clients’ standing both nationally and internationally as members of the First Family, they are especially unfortunate and malicious," said the letter.

The Kibaki children pointed out that the genesis of Muite’s allegation was purportedly founded on a report on the raid by the Parliamentary Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs, which they claimed was never tabled in Parliament and is hence not a public document.

Muite dismissed the demand letter, saying at no time did he mention or talk about the four children at the Standard Group raid anniversary on February 2.

"Each of your clients Judith, James, David, and Anthony Kibaki is over 18 years and, therefore, in law sui juris (can either sue or be sued in their own capacity) and statements made on their father or mother cannot ipso facto (after the fact) relate to them," Muite said in his reply.

Muite said he stands by what he said and that he will not be intimidated by the First Family’s threat to sue him.

"Our client is not aware that any of your clients is part of the Government of Kenya. It is their father who the people of Kenya elected president albeit in disputed elections. How in law and in fact are your clients seeking to connect or involve themselves with the ‘government operation’?" Imanyara responded to the demand letter.

Instead, Muite told the four siblings to persuade their father to release the Kiruki Commission report on the Standard Group raid.

Muite avers that a report (by a Parliamentary Committee) on the activities of the Artur Brothers and the Standard Group raid was indeed tabled in Parliament.

"The House Business Committee which the Government dominated and which alone decides what business will be debated and when, failed to allocate time for the report to be decided," Muite added.

He also sought to know what happened to the equipment carted away by the hooded gunmen during the raid.

Muite, who was invited as a guest at the Standard Group raid anniversary last month, said the then Iinternal Security Minister John Michuki told the Parliamentary committee of Administration of Justice and Legal Affairs that the raid on Standard was a ‘Government operation’.

The demand letter, however, does not mention allegations made by Muite that the Government ordered a raid on the Standard Group to stop it from publishing a story on the composition of the President’s family.

The First Family and Muite have since been on a warpath, with the President — in a rare Press conference — threatening to take legal action against anybody who implied that he has a second family.

In the response, Gitobu argues that the First Lady Lucy Kibaki is on record threatening journalists from KTN at the Press conference.

"I nearly came to attack you last night the same way I attacked the Nation," Gitobu quotes the First Lady.