BY SAM ALFAN.
The dispute between former Cabinet Secretary Raphael Tuju and East African Development Bank (EADB) has now spilled over to the anti-graft body.
The former CS presented what he termed as a dossier to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) last week and addressed the media, sparking a protest from the Judiciary.
Judiciary spokesperson Paul Ndemo later urged caution saying the matter was pending before various courts and discussing it outside the courtroom was in violation of sub-judice rule.
Ndemo warned Tuju that the matter is before the courts and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and as such, the sub-judice rule applies.
He said the rule restricts public commentary and disclosure related to ongoing court proceedings to prevent prejudging the issue, influencing the court, or obstructing justice.
Tuju fired back saying the Judiciary was being ‘economical with the truth’.
He said the Judiciary failed to mention that two Supreme Court judges are the ones who brought the matters to court and at the Judicial Service Commission (JSC ) brought the matter into the public domain through public lectures they conducted in Meru and elsewhere and which were widely reported by the media.
“If I am to be put on the dock for violating the rule of sub-judice, I would be glad to be in the same dock with the Supreme court judges who violated the sub judice rules in the first place. On my part I have been silent from April last year when I filed the case against the SCOK judges at the JSC. It is only after they talked about it in public that I exercised my right of reply,” Tuju adds.
Tuju further claims that in a press release, the EADB conveniently forget that their own Kenya Country Manager recanted the affidavits at the High Court that they used against him in the UK and at all the other courts where they boast of victory.
“They also forgot to add that one of their staff who made false affidavits at the DCI is facing criminal charges on giving false information to the police (perjury I think). And EADB has pleaded immunity and they have run for cover at the constitutional court,” added Tuju.
The Judiciary issued a statement warning Tuju over media statements regarding the long-running dispute with the regional lender, which is also pending before the JSC, the High Court, the Supreme Court and the East African Court of Justice.
During the Monday interview with local broadcaster, Tuju alleged a lack of fairness by five Supreme Court Judges in the protracted dispute over the loan to his company, Dari Limited, which also involves a 27-acre piece of land in Nairobi’s Karen area.
The former minister claimed his evidence against EADB was thrown into doubt after the bank submitted his defence stole confidential papers from its Kampala offices.
