Karua says Ruto should apologise to Miguna on behalf of the Jubilee Government

Martha Karua, Azimio la Umoja's running mate in the 2022 polls, says President William Ruto should have apologised to Canada-based lawyer Miguna Miguna in his Mashujaa Day speech.

She argues that Miguna's ouster was done during the Jubilee's administration, where the president served as the Deputy President for a decade.

In an exclusive interview with BBC on Wednesday, Karua said that Ruto should have given his own apology as well as on behalf of the former President, Uhuru Kenyatta.

"What happened to Miguna was a mistake and a great atrocity by the Jubilee government, in which the current President was a Deputy President. It is an action he cannot dissociate himself with," Karua told BBC's Focus on Africa.

"In fact, I think maybe today [Mashujaa Day] when making his speech, I would expect that he apologise to Miguna on his own behalf and on behalf of the president who has just retired. It is their government that committed that atrocity," she added.

She has also said that if they [Azimio] had won the elections, they would still allow the ousted Kenyan lawyer back to the country.

"Our campaign was on the rule of law and constitutionalism. As many may recall, Raila had indicated that I would handle the docket on matters of the rule of law," she said.

When asked whether she has accepted Ruto's presidency following the hotly contested August 9 polls, she said "The law accepts him, not me,".

The exiled Kenyan-born lawyer arrived at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) from Canada this morning after four years and eight months in exile.

"I am extremely happy to be back home. I extend my gratitude to all Kenyans who have stood with me, and with the bill of rights in the constitution. I pay gratitude to the Judiciary that stood firm on the side of the rule of law," said Miguna.

The Canadian-based lawyer was first deported on February 6, 2018, after a dramatic arrest for his role in January 30, 2018, controversial swearing-in of the then National Super Alliance presidential candidate Raila Odinga as the "People's President".

After his arrest, he was locked up incommunicado for five days, shifting between police stations in Kiambu and Kajiado before his February 6 deportation despite a court injunction against the same.