Revealed: Secrets of the Artur brothers

By Isaac Ongiri and David Ochami

A report by a Parliamentary Select Committee charged with investigating the activities of two alleged Armenian brothers, Artur Margayan and Artur Sagasyan, reveals damning details about Government involvement in the saga.

The committee declares a Cabinet minister and several public officers unfit to hold public office for their role in the Arturs’ scandal.

The report, whose debate is pending in Parliament, recommends investigation to ascertain what President Kibaki knew about the two.

Also revealed was the undercover plan to raid The Standard Group offices and those behind the heinous plot to suppress the Press.

In the raid, several computers were stolen, KTN broadcast equipment vandalised and the day’s issue of The Standard set on fire.

It is now three years since the commando-like raid on the Standard Group.

Drug Traffickers

Interestingly, the report says Government deportation of the two in June 9, 2006, involved a return ticket to Dubai.

It also describes the two as conmen and international drug traffickers. Allegedly invited by the Government as foreign investors, the committee’s findings indicate they were pampered and booked to travel business class, which is reserved for VIPs.

The report says the then Immigration Minister Gideon Konchella and his Permanent Secretary were kept in the dark by then Principal Immigration Officer Joseph Ndathi about the Arturs.

The report also says initial orders by National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS) to deport the two after their suspicious behaviour were ignored.

At the Grand Regency Hotel (now Laico Hotel) where the Arturs were booked when they first arrived in the country, the report says NSIS agents found out the two attempted to install CCTV cameras at the hotel.

Despite their flossy behaviour, the committee found out, the alleged foreign investors only declared Sh8,133,098.40 as the amount they intended to invest in the country.

Prepared by the Justice and National Security Parliamentary Committee more than a year ago, the report concludes the Armenian brothers enjoyed protection from presidential aides.

It also says their presence in the country was initiated and protected at the highest levels of Government. Their stay was part of a conspiracy to commit atrocities, says the report.

The parliamentary committee concludes high-ranking Government officials in State House knew of the brothers’ intentions as demonstrated by their direct links with the officials.

The report recommends investigations on former Strategy Advisor to the President Stanley Murage, former Internal Security Minister John Michuki, Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura and former CID Director Joseph Kamau.

Political Connections

The House committee notes the Arturs’ top political connections were betrayed by the brazenness with which they were issued with Kenyan passports, secured admission to police headquarters and registered companies in record time.

The VIP treatment and alacrity with which they were deported after they threatened airport staff also speaks volumes, concludes the report. The committee also seeks that PNU activist Mary Wambui and her daughter Winnie Wambui be investigated. Also to be probed are businessmen Raju Sanghani and Kamlesh Pattni.

The report further recommends investigations into what the President knew about The Standard raid.

"A raid of that magnitude could not have taken place without the full knowledge and approval of the Government at the highest levels," says the report.

The committee also seeks the testimony of Michuki and other Government officials regarding the Standard raid. In the report, the House team equates the "conspiracy of silence and non-cooperation by State agents" to the Government’s attempts to thwart Parliament’s efforts to investigate JM Kariuki murder in 1975.

Conspiracy Of Silence

"The Artur brothers were clearly and obviously politically connected at the highest levels of Government," says the report.

The parliamentary team also questions the essence of appointing the Kiruki Commission to investigate the Arturs yet recommendations have not been made public.

Former Kikuyu MP Paul Muite who jointly chaired the parliamentary committee with Changamwe MP Seif Kajembe accuses Justice Minister Martha Karua of having attempted to sabotage the committee’s operations.

Karua, the report claims, used her position as Deputy Leader of Government Business to stop a Motion by the committee to allow it to collect evidence in public.