Narc Kenya party leader Martha Karua has accused President William Ruto of dictatorship over what she terms as unlawful withdrawal of high-profile cases involving his allies in the Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
Speaking during the Uganda Human Rights Accountability Conference hosted by the Kenya Human Rights Commission in Nairobi Thursday, November 17, Karua expressed concerns over the rate at which cases including fraud and graft involving senior politicians in the Kenya Kwanza administration are being dropped.
She warned that Kenya's top leadership was leading the country down a dangerous path.
“I see the making of a dictator in Kenya. Cases are being withdrawn, be it fraud, murder, whatever, they are all being withdrawn. Something is cooking in Kenya and this is the making of dictatorship,” she said.
The former Azimio la Umoja - One Kenya coalition presidential running mate vowed to fight for rule of law, saying she will never be silent as injustice prevails.
“Our silence will make a dictator worse than we have seen. I will not be silenced. I am always inspired by Juliani’s song, “Sitanyamaza (sitasimama) maovu yakitawala”. (I will not shut up when evil is thriving). As long as I have breath, I will raise my voice whenever necessary,” Karua said.
Karua was referring to, among others, the Ksh7.3 billion graft case against Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua that was recently withdrawn amid claims that the matter was politically instigated.
A Nairobi court on November 10 allowed the Directorate of Public Prosecutions to withdraw the case against Gachagua and nine others for lack of evidence.
The DPP told the court that there was no full disclosure of evidence in the case by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) hence their decision.
"The DPP independently reviewed the matter and concluded that the evidence does not meet the evidential threshold required to amount a successful prosecution of this case," the DPP through State Counsels led by Vera Hamisi, said.
Uganda conference
The Uganda Human Rights Accountability Conference was attended by Uganda's opposition leaders Kizza Besigye and Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine, who unsuccessfully contested for the presidency against President Yoweri Museveni in January 2021.
The conference was held in commemoration of the victims of police brutality in the neighbouring country in the period leading up to the general election.
Both Besigye and Kyagulanyi accused Museveni, who has ruled Uganda for more than three decades of clinging to power and urged Ugandans to rise up and free themselves from Museveni's 'tyrannical' rule.
“Leaders must do what the people want and if they cannot, the people must have the power to push them out. Accountability happens when people have power, not when leaders are good,” Besigye said.
“It is sad that no leader has ever been ushered in or out of power in Uganda by the people but only through bombs. We must give the real power to the people,” he added.
