New Post has been published on WHERE IS KENYA.COM
New Post has been published on http://whereiskenya.com/evolution-johnstone-muthama-gemstone-dealer-wheeler-dealer-hate-mongering-politician/
The evolution of Johnstone Muthama from gemstone dealer to wheeler dealer and hate-mongering politician
As if police charges of theft, fraud and forgery over Sh1 billion Malili ranch aren’t enough for Machakos senator, he is wanted for inciting the public to violence
A nose accustomed to sniffing tobacco, so goes an African saying, finds it quite irresistible to stay away from the snuff. The same can be said of Kangundo senator Johnstone Nduya Muthama, who has a penchant for making the news for all the wrong reasons.
Muthama’s latest ignominy is being investigated for hate-mongering. He is among the opposition Cord politicians who have been asked to record statements with police over incitement.
Last month, he was in the news yet again when it emerged that he was paid a whopping Sh310 for a property he sold to the Judiciary, a transaction that has since been declared unprocedural because the sale was concluded before a valid valuation report was adduced. The transaction was also Sh90 million above budget.
The property in Nairobi’s Runda estate was to be used as the official residence of the Chief Justice. More than a year on, CJ Willy Mutunga is yet to move in, although full monies were paid for the property.
In March last year when Muthama was elected senator, a Mavulture.com profile portrayed him as a political vulture and wheeler dealer who had profited illegally through the sale of the 5,000 acre Malili Ranch.
The ranch was ostensibly bought by the Government for the establishment of Konza ICT city.Mavulture.com investigations exposed the politician’s predatory ways, a true vulture indeed, claims that have since been corroborated by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) which recommended that Muthama and Law Society of Kenya secretary general Eric Mutua be prosecuted over the Malili ranch sale. Former Information Permanent Secretary Bitange Ndemo was also censured over the same deal and recommended for prosecution.
Although Muthama has vehemently rejected the findings, EACC is convinced that he played a key role in the Malili Ranch scandal where the Government bought 5,000 acres of land at an inflated price.
The ranch was sold to the Government at Sh200,000 per acre although the 600 shareholders only got Sh111,000 per acre, meaning out of the Sh1 billion the Government paid, about half the amount, that is Sh500 million, was gobbled up by fat-cats who had brokered the deal.
The senator’s fate now lies with the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) which is supposed to facilitate his prosecution.
Last month, the Criminal Investigations Department wrote the DPP recommending the arrest of the three and several others. The police say they have evidence linking Muthama and others to fraud, theft and forgery over the Malili sale.
Predictably Muthama is blaming his woes on his political detractors whom he accuses of plotting to finish him for opposing the Jubilee Government.
“There are so many people involved in the theft at Malili ranch, including very senior people in the region. They are simply after me because I am outspoken. This thing you see here was planned in Machakos during two different visits by Jubilee leaders. But I am innocent,” he told journalists during a conference where he was accompanied by his lawyer, John Khaminwa.
The senator is now being formally accused of intimidating and hounding out of office directors of Malili Ranch using his political clout so as to facilitate the sale of the ranch.
Two Malili ranch officials, Peter Kanyi and Julius Kilonzo were charged at Muthama’s insistence for allegedly stealing Sh143 million at View Park Towers Nairobi, an offence they allegedly committed between June and October 2009.
Muthama is accused of having fronted for Gateway Logistics, a company he wanted paid Sh70 million as commission for the land sale.
Mutua, who EACC also want prosecuted, is also accused of having pocketed Sh28 million as legal fees from the transaction. The secret sale was exposed after the ranch chairman, Josiah Munuka, died. Apparently, the shareholders who owned an average of seven acres each had been duped into approving the subdivision of the land and were shocked to learn that it had been sold to the Government.
But as Muthama waits for his day in court, he will be meeting with the police sooner over incitement claims.
