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AG Muigai dangles death sentence over Raila on oath plan

By SAM KIPLAGAT December 7th, 2017 2 min read

Attorney-General Githu Muigai has warned against plans to swear in National Super Alliance (Nasa) leader Raila Odinga as the ‘people’s president’ on December 12.

Prof Muigai, the chief legal adviser to the government, on Thursday said swearing-in Mr Odinga would be an illegality attracting charges of treason.

He said such an inauguration would be outside the Constitution because Kenya already a sitting president who took the oath of office on November 28.

Prof Muigai said the government would not stop at anything to prevent breach of the rule of law and the constitution.

DEATH SENTENCE

Any person who takes part in such an inauguration, he said, will face the law. Treason charges attract the death sentence in Kenya.

“I reiterate the any attempts to swear in any person as president other than the one elected in line with the constitution and in a manner provided for in the law is unlawful, illegal null and void ab initio,” Prof Muigai told journalists at the State Law office in the capital Nairobi.

Nasa is planning to swear in Mr Odinga using the results of August 8 presidential election on Tuesday to coincide with Jamhuri Day celebrations although they have not disclosed the venue.

RIGGED

Mr Odinga, who pulled of the October 26 repeat presidential poll, has maintained that he won the August 8 poll but was rigged out through manipulation of numbers in IEBC servers.

At the same time, the AG warned the 11 counties that have passed people’s assembly motion, saying they committed illegalities.

Such devolved Houses, he said, may be surcharged for misusing taxpayers’ money.

He said the national government retains the right to review the funds allocated to the concerned counties.

The AG’s warning came hours after Mr Odinga told off the US and other western powers that have advised against the oath plan.