Monday
July 16, 2012
July 16, 2012
Politics
Photo|FILE
Prime Minister Raila Odinga during a past interview with the Sunday Nation.
By SUNDAY NATION TEAM newsdesk@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, July 14 2012 at 23:30
Posted Saturday, July 14 2012 at 23:30
Prime Minister Raila Odinga plans to counter
allegations contained in a provocative new book by his former aide in an
effort to control potential damage from his acrimonious falling out
with author Miguna Miguna.
ODM insiders have offered Mr Odinga several options to tackle the charges levelled against him in Peeling Back the Mask, Mr Miguna’s memoir of his time in the Prime Minister’s office. (READ: Inside Raila’s kitchen cabinet)
Some within ODM feel that Mr Odinga should tackle
Mr Miguna head on. There has been talk of going after Mr Miguna’s
character and offering an examination of his record, which some on the
PM’s team say would undermine his authority.
This team has been calling for publicisation of
some court cases Mr Miguna battled while in exile in Canada. One source
within ODM, who requested anonymity because consultations are still
ongoing, said: “Who is Miguna?
“How was his tenure as adviser on coalition affairs? What did he achieve? How did he get the job?
“What determined his choice of publisher? Why did
he flirt with American fundamentalists like the anti-Obama right winger
Jerome Corsi in seeking to publish the book? These are some of the
issues we will address.”
A second option Mr Odinga has been advised to
pursue would be to encourage some of those whose character has been
brought into question to seek redress in the courts, both in Nairobi and
London.
This is viewed as an effort to bring into doubt the
authenticity of some of the claims and to demand that Mr Miguna provide
evidence for his charges of corruption in the PM’s office.
In an interview with NTV before the official launch
of his book on Saturday, Mr Miguna said he was ready to meet his
challengers in court, where he would represent himself.
“I hear that they want to take me to court. I am a lawyer, and I will teach them some law.”
Some within Mr Odinga’s team of advisers think the
PM should ignore Mr Miguna entirely, saying responding to him might be
seen as validating the claims.
Speaking at the official launch of the book on Saturday, lawyer Paul Muite advised the PM not to take this course of action.
Mr Muite said the new book should not be viewed as
an attack on individuals but as an effort to advance Kenya’s political
culture and to introduce greater openness in public life.
He said the PM should respond to the contents of
the book instead of “fence- sitting”. “Kenyans want to know the real
Odinga,” Mr Muite said.
He called on Mr Odinga to offer a detailed, blow-by-blow response to Mr Miguna’s charges.
The former Kikuyu MP said in developed democracies
like America, a candidate’s past is examined back to the nursery school
level, something that needs to be replicated in this country.
“Was he the beneficiary of the issues we are
reading in the book? We also want to hear the unfinished business of the
1982 coup,” Mr Muite said.
During the launch, a fire-spitting Mr Miguna
defended his motives for writing the book, casting himself as a
whistleblower who had stood against more conservative forces in the PM’s
office.
He also sensationally claimed he had evidence of a senior ODM figure’s participation in planning the post-election violence.
Mr Miguna’s book has caused a sensation in
political circles. It seeks to undermine Mr Odinga’s credentials as a
reformist and has been latched on to by the PM’s opponents like
Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and URP presidential aspirant William
Ruto.
The ODM team says it intends to go on the attack
this week. They hope to reveal some of the inconsistencies they say are
in the book.
But a defiant Miguna on Saturday warned those around Mr Odinga to tread carefully because he claimed he has more on them.
He said he was working on a second book, including
his diaries which he said revealed the role of some ODM leaders in
planning the post-election violence.
Reaction to Mr Miguna’s book continued on Saturday.
Nairobi lawyer PLO Lumumba confirmed meeting former World Bank country
director Colin Bruce at the height of the 2008 election crisis as
reported in the book but denied the meeting was about recognition of
President Kibaki.
“We met to discuss modalities of peaceful reconciliation when the country was in chaos,” Mr Lumumba told the Sunday Nation.
He was reacting to a claim by Mr Miguna that the meeting was to lay down strategies on how world leaders would recognise Kibaki.
Mr Miguna claims Dr Bruce was recalled from Kenya when the meeting’s agenda leaked.
Yesterday, Mr Lumumba said those at the meeting were not “Kibaki affiliated” professionals as claimed by Mr Miguna in his book.
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