Agriculture Cabinet Secretary nominee Mithika Linturi last week sensationally claimed that former President Uhuru Kenyatta coerced him into withdrawing a censure motion against the then Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru in 2014.
Mr Linturi made the claim when appearing before the parliamentary Committee on appointments for his vetting; he said that he was compelled to do so since he could not withstand the immense pressure from the State House. “For those that have never known, when a gun is put on your head, and you understand when you have a CEO who is almost a terrorist. Many people cannot withstand the pressure, intimidation and threats that exist,”
According to him the motion’s withdrawal letter which he claimed to have signed in the presence of the former president, was anticipated to set off a chain of events that would have exonerated the now Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru from a scandal worth Ksh. 791 million that she was embroiled in with the National Youth Service. Linturi noted that the letter was promptly delivered to the former National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi at night.
Mithika Linturi allegations were however contradictory to the sentiments of his estranged lover Aldai MP Marianne Kitany who at the time served as the Deputy President’s chief of staff. Kitany during a court proceeding in 2019 informed Chief magistrate Peter Ngare that he got intertwined with Linturi during discussions about Waiguru’s ouster motion. She pointed out that on the day that the motion was tabled in Parliament, she and Mr Linturi were in Naivasha
“The letter to withdraw the Motion was drafted by Njee Muturi, I was asked to sign. Speaker Muturi was called, I think he was in Kilimani, he was told to go back to the House, that there is a letter that is being brought to withdraw that Motion,” he said. “Jomo Gecaga, past 8 O’clock, delivered the letter to the then Speaker Muturi. Those are the circumstances that I found myself in. And I signed the letter and the President was there then.”
“It is from that time when my relationship (with the President) went south. That thing has tormented me,” he said. His allegations were however contradictory to the sentiments of his estranged lover Aldai MP Marianne Kitany who at the time served as the Deputy President’s chief of staff. Kitany during a court proceeding in 2019 informed Chief magistrate Peter Ngare that he got intertwined with Linturi during discussions about Waiguru’s ouster motion. She pointed out that on the day that the motion was tabled in Parliament, she and Mr Linturi were in Naivasha.
“And when the impeachment motion was first tabled in Parliament we were at Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge having a good time,” Kitany testified. It was apparent that Linturi frequented the DP’s office, an issue that according to Kitany enabled her to persuade him to drop the motion to impeach Waiguru. “The DP, as a result, gave me strict instructions to deal with Linturi’s regular complaints,” Ms Kitany told the court.
