Jubilee wants to silence us, Johnstone Muthama, Erick Mutua claim

By JAMES MBAKA

Kenya: Machakos Senator Johnstone Muthama now says recommendations by the CID director that he be prosecuted over a land transaction involving the planned Konza City is   part of a plot by the Jubilee Government to silence him because of his political stand.

He alleged that several meetings had been held between the top leadership of the government and Machakos leaders on how to ‘teach me a lesson’.

At the same time, LSK chairman Erick Mutua, who alongside Muthama were recommended for prosecution, claimed he was innocent  and alleged that his implication was an attempt to silence his push for accountability and respect of the rule of law.

“It is nothing but a witch hunt  and a fragrant abuse of office. There is nothing I did in the transaction to sand trial if police purport that they have any evidence. This is an orchestrated campaign to intimidate me and malign my name,” Mr Mutua said in a statement.

Mr Mutua acted as the lawyer of the Malili Ranch, which was his client during the sale of the 5,000 acre land to the Government through the Ministry of Information and Communication in 2009.

He confirmed that some directors of the company who were earlier acquitted by the court over a criminal case in which they were charged of illegal assent to sale the plot, later returned to him to complain that they had been forced by a Mr Kirangu, who is a police officer, to change the statement they signed, under duress.

“As an advocate in the transaction, I received payments and disbursed them to the beneficiaries as per instructions of the client,” he added.

And Muthama claimed the Jubilee government was planning about 50 cases to intimidate him.

 “This is not a normal case but a politically orchestrated issue to silence me,” said the Mchakos Senator.

The two were reacting to a letter by the CID director Ndegwa recommending charges against  them and former Information Communications PS Bitange Ndemo over the sale of the land at the Malili Ranch.

The Government bought the land at Sh1 billion and each of the 641 members was expected to have been paid Sh200,000 per acre. But the CID director recommended that the two and three other company directors be charged for conspiracy to defraud shareholders after it emerged that members had not properly approved the sale.

Muthama addressed the Press at his offices in Gigiri, accompanied by his lawyer John Kamino. He also wondered why he was being pursued over the sale of the controversial plot when he was actually the whistle blower.