- Meru Senator Mithika Linturi, the politician accused of attempted rape after allegedly sneaking into a couple's hotel room, is a man overrun by controversies.
- The 52-year-old has been thrust into yet another messy situation and has been entangled in a sexual assault allegation.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
Meru Senator Mithika Linturi is a man of many controversies.
In the latest string of controversy, the politician is in custody for using coded language that is said to be hate speech.
Linturi was over the weekend arrested at Rupa at a hotel located within Eldoret.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Noordin Haji last Saturday evening ordered investigations into Linturi's remarks.
Uasin Gishu county commander Ayub Gitonga confirmed the arrest and says he is being taken to Nakuru to record a statement and possible production in court Monday.
Police plan to argue he is a threat to security and needs to be detained for further processing.
He has since apologized for his remarks. He said his ‘madoadoa” remarks were not meant to incite or propagate hate speech.
“Today, while addressing the UDA rally at Eldoret, I expressed myself using words which in certain context, have acquired sinister political overtones and come to be associated with incitement and hate speech,” said the Senator.
“At that moment, I was vigorously urging our supporters to offer full support to UDA candidates in this year's election, and was oblivious of the possibility that my choice of words might assume negative meaning."
Deputy President William Ruto on Monday asked state security agencies to impartially deal with all hate-mongers across the political divide.
“For the avoidance of doubt the agencies charged with security and ensuring we have a peaceful election must apply the law in a manner that does not create two sets of laws for two sets of groups,” Ruto said at the Bomet Green Stadium.
He went on: “We want every inciter in Kenya, whether they belong to UDA or the other side, we want the law to apply equally so that we can secure our nation.”
ATTEMPTED RAPE
In August, Linturi was also accused of attempted rape after allegedly sneaking into a couple's hotel room.
From the political arena to the bedroom, Linturi appears to move from one controversy to the next.
For more than three years now, Linturi has had a dramatic and acrimonious divorce from his estranged wife, Marianne Kitany.
At one point, Kitany sensationally claimed the legislator could not "rise to the occasion" in the bedroom.
“Linturi was unable to rise to the occasion in the bedroom on several occasions, claiming exhaustion, sickness, but for the most part he simply could not,” she claimed
In fact, Kitany described to the court how their relationship started as a fling but blossomed into an intense love affair.
She claimed their love was short-lived. Linturi started coming home late and she became suspicious.
She snooped in his phone and found photos of women and also pornographic videos sent to him by several women.
However, Linturi insisted they were never married.
In August 2012, a separate woman sued the lawmaker for abandoning her and their three-year-old son.
She claimed they were married in May 2008 under Meru customary law and that she gave birth to their son in 2010.
The woman claimed that Linturi was a good "sponsor" until sometime in 2011 when he turned "cruel, abusive, irresponsible and negligent".
FAKE PAPERS SAGA
In November 2017, the University of Nairobi de-registered his 2014 law degree, after it was discovered the politician presented fake papers when enrolling for the course.
The university Senate resolved to de-register him. This followed investigations that revealed forgery of the degree from a university in India that he used to secure admission at the University of Nairobi in 2014.
However, the High Court overturned the UoN decision, terming it illegal.
The senator graduated in 2020 with his law degree.
In October 2018, Linturi's household died mysteriously, a death that shocked the country. There were claims that she was also hurriedly buried without a postmortem being performed.
FORGERY
In March, Linturi faced prosecution over claims he used forged signatures to secure a Sh530 million bank loan using Kitany's properties as collateral.
He was accused of forging signatures to secure the Sh530 million bank loan.
In May, he was arrested briefly, then released on police bond over the loan he took from Family Bank two years ago.
Linturi was accused of fraudulently kicking out Baron Estates from ownership of Atticon and further increasing the loan secured using the Baron’s property without its consent.
An audit filed in court indicated that Rodha Kitany’s signature was forged to secure loans of Sh100 million from Family Bank.
It also was used to secure another loan of Sh325.7 million and a separate overdraft facility of Sh100 million using the properties of Baron Estates.