Devolution CS Anne Waiguru yesterday sued Cord leader Raila Odinga for linking her to the Sh791 million scandal at the National Youth Service.
Waiguru, the Devolution CS, filed a defamation suit against the Cord leader, accusing him of recklessly tarnishing her name and demanding and public apology.
Raila has refused to apologise, withdraw his statements and said he welcomes the opportunity to prove his accusations in court.
Waiguru says that on July 17 Raila addressed a press conference and damaged her reputation by essentially calling her a thief and tarnishing her good name.
The Cord leader at that time released what he called a list of shame and said Waiguru was involved in missing funds at the Devolution ministry.
He has also said Waiguru's name was on the original List of Shame but was deleted from the list presented by President Uhuru Kenyatta in late March.
“We will not take the President seriously on the war on corruption until thieves are treated equally. The law must apply on scandals over IFMIS, NYS and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission in the same way as the roads and other ministries” Raila is quoted as saying.
Waiguru has not stated how much she wants in damages.
She says Raila portrayed her as a woman of low moral standing who is involved in unethical and professional misconduct.
Through the law firm of Mohamed Muigai and company, the Cs said the claims has caused her to suffer immensely as the statements portrayed her as a common thief, an embezzler of public funds, corrupt in the extreme and a flagrant law breaker who is not fit to hold public office.
The Cord leader spoke recklessly without attempting to verify his claims, she said.
Raila was quoted saying: “He [Uhuru] has suspended employees holding lower offices, telling them to step aside so investigations can be done, but he has left the big fish. I have said that Anne Waiguru should step aside. Her name was in the List of Shame that Uhuru took to Parliament but he removed her name before taking it Parliament because they had stolen more than one billion shillings."
He further said: “A lot of money is lost by way of corruption. Those who are taking the bulk of the money are thieves. Waiguru, who being protected, has eaten a lot of money. The other day she threatened to take me to court. I told her to go ahead as Raila is ready. I have many witnesses."
Waiguru says the injurious false claims were broadcast on several TV channels, published in dailies and posted on website.