The PM’s Chief of Staff wants to sue Miguna for allegedly defaming him/ FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 16 – Caroli Omondi, the Chief of Staff at the Prime Minister’s office, has instructed his lawyer to institute a case against Miguna Miguna for allegedly defaming him in the newly launched book Peeling Back the Mask.
In a letter to top city lawyer Georgo Oraro, Omondi also wants action taken against the Nation Media Group (NMG) for publishing allegations made by Miguna in his book.
“I am writing to instruct you to act for me in compiling a brief with respect to the unlawful publication of defamatory matter concerning my person by Miguna Miguna in his book and the subsequent serialisation of the defamatory matter by the Daily Nation newspaper,” the letter dated July 16, 2012 and seen by Capital FM News states.
Omondi who argues the allegations have injured his character, wants criminal and civil proceedings instituted against Miguna, NMG and Gilgamesh Africa who are the publishers of the book.
He wants Oraro to brief the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Media Council of Kenya and the police over the allegations in order to open criminal proceedings.
“The concerned persons acted in bad faith in publishing the defamatory material without having taken reasonable care to ascertain whether or not the allegations were true or false and the defamatory matter published were not expression of opinion made in good faith but averments of false facts punctuated by malice, ill will and intended to injure my reputation,” Omondi asserted.
Miguna in his book alleges that Omondi is corrupt, links him to the maize scandal and questions how he acquired his wealth while at the PM’s office.
“His take home pay was less than Sh300,000. By April 2009, Caroli had worked for the OPM for exactly two years. Even if he was saving 90 percent of his net income – an impossible feat in any society- he would still not have made Sh800 million within two years,” Miguna claimed in his book.
Miguna also claims that Omondi had acquired the Heron Court Hotel which is situated in Nairobi.
Omondi has asked Oraro to gather information from the Registrar of Titles and the Registrar of Companies “to determine the ownership of the land and hotel business on the premises known as ‘Heron Court Hotel.”
Miguna writes that PM Odinga brushed the issue aside when the advisor tried to raise the matter while alleging that Caroli Omondi had purchased the property for Sh800 million.
“Hmmm…hmmm…hmmm, is that so? Miguna, what’s wrong if Caroli bought Heron Court, hmmm? What’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with Luos? Who told them not to make money?” Miguna quoted Odinga in his book ‘Peeling Back the Mask’ (2012, p. 425) when he allegedly discussed with him the matter.
Omondi also wants his lawyer to get reports from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission on the maize scandal in which Miguna implicated him.