ODM: We’ll abandon Miguna if he keeps attacking Raila
ODM leaders have threatened to withdraw their support for lawyer Miguna Miguna if he continues with his attacks against their leader Raila Odinga.
They told Sunday Nation that while they sympathise with Mr Miguna over his tribulations and have been at the forefront to help him, they will not hesitate to abandon him if he does not respect Mr Odinga.
“Raila Odinga as an institution, is a no-go zone for him to spew vitriol. He and Raila don’t play in the same league. As far as we’re concerned, the moment he starts showing open disrespect for Raila, he crosses the red line,” ODM political affairs director Opiyo Wandayi said.
The Ugunja MP added: “I urge the concerned State officials to facilitate his return to the country as soon as possible so that he can resume his normal life without unnecessary drama.”
ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna said Mr Miguna was enjoying legal representation pro bono courtesy of a bid by Mr Odinga to save him.
The legal team comprising Senior Counsel James Orengo, Dr John Khaminwa, Mr Nelson Havi, Ms Julie Soweto and Mr Cliff Ombeta, obtained a total of 11 court orders in favour of Mr Miguna.
BRUTALISED
At one point, the lawyers were brutalised by police as they went to serve one last order requiring the government to produce Mr Miguna in court hours before he was deported.
“We have documented all the efforts Jakom (Mr Odinga) has put in to help Miguna. Mzee has instructed all his lawyers including myself to work on the case at great peril. The team led by Orengo has been on this matter since the lawyer was arrested in February,” Mr Sifuna said.
“We have suffered brutality both from police and State sympathisers. Our passports have been revoked. Mzee has personally been coming to court. He was at the airport risking his own safety. I therefore don’t see how anyone can say that he has abandoned Miguna,” he added.
The reaction by the ODM team came hours after Mr Miguna, in his now regular social media updates, accused Mr Odinga of not doing much to help him.
“Raila Odinga cannot and should not be enjoying Easter abroad and dining with the tyrants when the person who swore him in as the people’s president is being “murdered” by those who stole his election, and who have killed and maimed his supporters,” Mr Miguna said in a morning update from Dubai.
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In the afternoon, Mr Miguna said ODM deputy leader, Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho, was lying about having visited him in Dubai.
“I have never received a request either from him or from anyone else that he would like to meet or speak with me. I would have had no reason to decline such a request….!” Mr Miguna fired again, disputing the party’s narrative that he had turned down a request to be visited by Mr Joho.
Alego Usonga MP Samwel Atandi said Mr Miguna has become an object of use by forces against the prosperity of Kenya.
“We are not going to spare him. If he continues to undermine Raila, we shall support his deportation. He has touched a live wire,” he said.
Bondo MP Gideon Ochanda accused Mr Miguna of being reckless.
Meanwhile, former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga has also waded in the debate, disputing the narrative that the lawyer could not be allowed into the country with a national identity card.
“So, is the government telling all Kenyans, including those who have dual nationalities, that if for any reason they should arrive at JKIA without a passport they cannot use their national IDs to come home? Are our IDs not another evidence of our citizenship?” Asked Dr Mutunga.