National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi has fought back bribery allegations raised against him during his tenure as a magistrate.
The Speaker said the allegations that he demanded a Sh1 million bribe were concocted by a group of judicial officers who were out to fix him.
Muturi questioned how he could demand Sh1 million from a person who was accused of making false claims from NHIF of Sh140,000.
He said his troubles began after he refused to play ball in a scheme by some unscrupulous judges who had the government’s ear to grab public houses in the capital.
Muturi spoke after newspaper clippings with the story of the bribery case began doing rounds following his crowning as Mt Kenya spokesman.
“The clips are popping up because I have announced that we must be accountable, be people of integrity and obey orders, not necessarily from court because even Parliament issues orders,” he said.
The Speaker told Citizen TV that his woes began following his transfer from Machakos and securing a house at Upper Hill.
While there, some two senior judges whom he says “had a way of applying for houses from the then head of state” approached him to buy into their plan.
Muturi narrated that the two applied for the houses and added his name to be allocated a house, today known as Visa Place in Upper Hill.
He said it was another senior judge, who also wanted to apply for a house, that informed him that he had been allocated a house.
“The judge said he wanted to be helped to apply. He brought the application and asked me to sign. Two weeks later he came complaining that the application did not go through. He asked me how I managed to get the house.”
Muturi said the revelations shocked him, adding that the events were a "harrowing experience for him”.
“When I confronted those people, all my problems began. I told them I have no regards for thieves… that is where my problems began,” he added.
He further narrated how the scheme to fix him extended to the courts when a witness was coached and went to court with a diary showing how they met.
Muturi said he was lucky to have travelled out of the country on the dates he was purported to have held meetings and made calls.
“It was made to look cogent. Lucky for me, I was away on a trip out of the country. I came with my passports which I showed to the courts… the days they were saying I went to their office are the same days I was out of the country. We were on a long study tour,” Muturi said.
Despite his acquittal, the Speaker said he resigned in protest and joined politics in fear the schemers would have fixed him more.
“I was reinstated, but because I was so annoyed, I decided to go into politics. I resigned in protest. Then Attorney General tried to appeal but he later withdrew the appeal.”
“After being acquitted, I asked myself why am I going back to work with them… was I now setting up myself to be fixed harder,” Muturi said.
“In any event the voters were eager for me to run so I said; why stay here where I felt I would be humiliated?” he said, adding that he has since forgiven the people who were setting him up.
-Edited by SKanyara
