LAST Thursday afternoon Makadara MP Mike Sonko slapped Attorney General Prof Githu Muigai as he was leaving the chamber of Parliament.
He has just been evicted by temporary Speaker Joyce Laboso for disorderly conduct after shouting 'Mwizi' (thief) during the debate on gratuity for MPs.
Now the Law Society of Kenya wants the Speaker Kenneth Marende to take disciplinary action against Sonko for allegedly slapping Attorney General Githu Muigai on Thursday last week.
In a letter to the Speaker, LSK CEO Apollo Mboya asked Marende to invoke his powers under the constitution, National Assembly Act and standing orders to address “this unfortunate episode”.
Sonko was on his way out of the chambers when he met Githu. He was already angry with the Attorney General for instructing the CID to investigate Sonko over claims of extortion over a piece of land valued at Sh360 million.
Githu was carrying papers under his right arms and reluctantly talked to Sonko. Sonko expressed his dismay over the letter to the CID. It is not known how the AG replied.
"There were no pleasantries. Sonko was talking loudly," said an orderly who requested anonymity to protect his job. As the exchange became heated, two orderlies, who usually man the metal detector at the entrance, moved closer to the duo.
Suddenly without warning, Sonko lunged at Githu with his right hand. Githu reacted too slowly and the slap landed on the lower side of his right cheek.
An orderly who tried to intervene was pulled away by the MP but slightly hurt in the process. Githu was led to the chambers by another orderly as if nothing had happened.
"I thought it was a joke. Things were very fast. The only thing I remember is Sonko talking about land grabbing and some letters to Orengo, and then charging at the AG," said the orderly.
"MPs are state officers and Article 75 of the constitution makes specific provisions regarding the conduct of state officers," LSK's letter to Marende stated.
"We call upon you to invoke the necessary powers bestowed upon you by the law to address this unfortunate episode." Prof Githu reportedly preferred not to make a big fuss over the incident and has not made an official complaint about the incident.
However, a defiant Sonko yesterday dismissed LSK as "being full of thieves"and denied ever slapping the AG. "I confronted him but I didn't slap him. The proof is in the cameras that are all over Parliament," he said.
He warned the LSK not to be used to intimidate MPs. "Nobody , LSK included, will stop me from discharging my constitutional and parliamentary duties as an MP. I was not voted for by wananchi, not LSK," Sonko told the Star yesterday.
Sonko maintained the disputed plot is public land land. "The land is going nowhere. I don't fear. The LSK can do what it wants, but the land is going nowhere," he said.
The one-acre piece of land next to the Muthangari police station is owned by Maina Chege of Kanorero River Farm Ltd. On September 21, 2012 the Attorney General wrote to CID director Ndegwa Muhoro saying that Sonko had written to Lands minister James Orengo alleging that the land belonged to the Kenya police but had been grabbed by Kanorero River Farm.
Githu said he received a separate letter from Chege insisting that he is the rightful owner and denying Sonko’s allegations. “Chege contends that although the property in question shares a common boundary on one side with Muthangari police station, the properties are different as verifiable from the lands office and director of Survey,” Githu says in the letter to Muhoro.
The AG says that Chege informed him that Sonko’s complaint was motivated by a desire to extort money from him. “The purpose of this letter therefore is to request you to institute thorough investigations into the matter and report on the same appropriate action,” stated Githu’s letter to Muhoro and copied to Sonko and Orengo.
On October 9, Sonko wrote back, “It’s with great shock and disbelief that I am reading your reply addressed to the Director CID and copied to myself in response to the illegal land dealings that I had asked the relevant government bodies to collectively act to avert loss of public utility.”
“It’s unfortunate that instead of coordinating with the investigating organ of the government to unearth what I allegedly as fraudulent dealing, you are rather seemingly in support of the land grabber operating under Kanorero River Farm limited,” the Makadara MP adds.
Chege is also facing criminal charges related to last year's controversial acquisition of cemetery land by City Hall. Sonko attached copies of the charge sheet in the case "as evidence that the man in question has been involved in land grabbing" and wondered why Chege had not reported the extortion claim to police.
“Chege alleges that I attempted to extort money from him. I wonder why he did not report the same to police and even trap me with treated money. I need to categorically remind you that as an advisor to government and not investigator, you have no right to brand me an extortionist,” the MP wrote to Githu.
In June Chege reportedly sold the Muthangari plot but the buyers pulled out after Sonko became involved. The MP insisted that a down payment of Sh10 million made to an Asian property dealer was in fact owed to him as commission. The buyers took fright, demanded their money back and quit the deal.
Source: The star
