Aides of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga have pointed an accusing finger at Kimemia following humiliating episodes at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), where he was allegedly denied access to the VIP lounge.
The letter dated May 9th 2013, which is addressed to Eng Karanja Kibicho, the former Permanent Secretary for Transport, is copied to Ruto, among other recipients. Now Raila’s aides suspect that Ruto may have had a hand in instructing that Raila be barred from accessing the VIP lounges.
In normal practice, the individual listed as first recipient of the letter copy is the originator of the order to whom the author seeks to confirm execution of the same. We could not, however, independently confirm whether Ruto was indeed the originator of the order or whether he actually received a copy of the Kimemia letter.
But this is just one of the many impediments and fixes that the Deputy President has had to deal with over time. Most of them are legal tussles that have considerably slowed his political tempo.
“Going through the legal battles but equally remaining strong politically without losing concentration has depicted him as a strong hearted person who can withstand any kind of storm,” points out Dr Martin Mulwale of Maseno University.
Currently, Ruto is awaiting a ruling on a land case trial that began in 2010 between him a Mr. Adrian Gilbert Muteshi, to be delivered by Lady Justice Rose Ougo on June 28. Muteshi, who says he fled the land in 2008 following post-election violence, accuses Mr Ruto of grabbing it.
The case closed in May without Ruto’s court appearance or that of three other “crucial” witnesses.
Ruto has, however, maintained that he is innocent and denies any role in the fraudulent transfer of Mr Muteshi’s land. In February 2009, while serving as Agriculture Minister he overturned an attempt to censure him by Parliament over the mismanagement of maize stores.
Ruto got the support of 119 MPs to defeat the motion brought by the then Ikolomani MP Dr Bonny Khalwale, now Senator of Kakamega County.
But in October 2010, Ruto was suspended as Higher Education minister by then President Mwai Kibaki, days after the High Court ruled Ruto would stand trial for his involvement in a major fraud case.
Three days to his suspension, Ruto had vowed not to resign, arguing there was “nothing new to make him step aside”. And indeed luck was on his side as on April 12, 2011, Ruto was acquitted of Sh43 million land fraud charges for lack of evidence. His two other co-accused were also set free.
In his ruling, Nairobi chief magistrate Gilbert Mutembei said the prosecution had failed to prove accusations against the trio. Despite his clearance of fraud charges, Ruto was never to be reinstated to Cabinet. Following the Jubilee win and his swearing in as Deputy President on April 9, 2013, the ICC case remains Ruto’s only major headache when it comes to his future political arrithmetic.
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