Ongeri dismisses Raila death threats
Foreign Affairs minister minister Sam Ongeri yesterday denied allegations he was part of an alleged plot to assassinate the Prime Minister Raila Odinga, describing the claims as as "outrageous and shocking". Government chief whip Jakoyo Midiwo on Saturday said mercenaries had been hired to execute the ODM leader and Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials led by Ongeri were behind the scheme. “I am not even ten days old as Foreign Affairs Minister and I have not settled down in my new office, how come Midiwo can make such reckless statements?” Ongeri said.
The minister said he had already instructed his lawyers to study the allegations and take appropriate action, adding the claims should be investigated by the Ministry of Internal Security to establish whether they are genuine. “Matters to deal with security including the threat to life of any Kenyans can only be handled by the minister for Internal Security, what role does the ministry of Foreign Affairs play here? He should not drag my name here,” Ongeri told the Star on the phone.
Ongeri, who later addressed journalists in Ichuni area of his Nyaribari Masaba constituency, said the allegations can only be part of a wider scheme to malign his name and taint his image as Kenya's chief ambassador. Yesterday, while addressing a congregation during an Easter Sunday mass at the St Stephen Cathedral in Kisumu, Raila asked leaders "to stop creating fear and despondency among the people because I am still alive and not afraid of death since it is a necessary evil that must come to pass in one's lifetime".
Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo elicited mixed reaction from many quarters when he claimed that there was a conspiracy to assassinate the Premier to block him from ascending to the presidency. Yesterday, Midiwo maintained his position that there was a scheme to stop Raila from the presidential race through an assassin’s bullet. The MP asked why the police have not summoned Ongeri for questioning even though he had mentioned him as among the people behind the scheme.
In an interview with the Star, the ODM chief whip said he stood by the claims he made in Bondo during a funeral service graced by Raila on Saturday. “I stand by what I said. It is upon the police to investigate the claims,” Midiwo said. The MP further claimed he had been forced to go public with the information "because police have the same information but they are doing nothing about it". “Some people in the police are involved in the scheme. They sit in the same meetings with the people who are planning the killing," he added.
Midiwo over the weekend refused to record a statement with the police in Bondo over his claims. After being grilled for an hour, the Gem MP declined to record any statement and said he would do it tomorrow (Tuesday) at the CID headquarters in Nairobi. Bondo police boss Patrick Mang’oli confirmed to the Star yesterday that the legislator did not record statement at the area police station. “He did not record a statement with us but agreed to do it on Tuesday at the police headquarters in Nairobi,” Mang’oli said.
A statement from the Prime Minister's spokesman Dennis Onyango said the Midiwo had agreed to record a statement at the CID headquarters tomorrow at 10 am. Midiwo, a cousin to Raila, shocked mourners at Anyuongi village in Bondo at a funeral that was also attended by PM and four cabinet ministers when he disclosed that there was a plot being hatched by a section of officials in the Foreign Affairs ministry to eliminate the PM.
He said the plot was to be executed in two weeks. The legislator challenged Ongeri to deny or confirm the claim. “They are looking for ways of carrying out damage control, which will be fatal and badly hatched so don’t be casual about it,” he told the PM. Yesterday Midiwo defended his decision to use a funeral gathering to make the accusations instead of reporting to the police. “I had no choice. The police are doing nothing even through they have the information. The people are our last frontier. We have come this far because of the people."
Midiwo said he did not record a statement at Bondo Police Station on the advice of his legal team, led by Lands Minister James Orengo. “They felt that since I had made the allegation, it was upon the police to investigate the allegations failure to which I will record the statement at the CID headquarters in Nairobi,” he said. Midiwo linked death threats to the PM’s strong stance on constitutional reforms which he said "is hurting anti-reform political leaders who vehemently opposed the new constitution at the referendum".
He was speaking during the burial of Dr Awuor Lea Gondi in the presence of the PM, his wife Ida Odinga and ministers James Orengo (Lands), Dalmas Otieno (Public Service), Anyang’ Nyong’o (Medical Services) and Finance assistant Minister Oburu Oginga. Raila said he heard of the claims for the first time. He seemed not to be shaken and sai that, “cowards fear and they die many times but I will once when my time comes.”
Orengo, who later accompanied Midiwo to Bondo police station, told Raila at the funeral not to take Midiwo’s statements lightly. His sentiments were echoed by Oburu Oginga. Nyong’o claimed he was recently approached by some members of the provincial administration in his constituency who told him a man of Tanzanian origin was in his village in Kisumu Rural constituency asking about different police stations in the area and the entire security system. Otieno said ODM party rivals have erected tens of bottlenecks to frustrate the PM’s presidential bid.
The minister said he had already instructed his lawyers to study the allegations and take appropriate action, adding the claims should be investigated by the Ministry of Internal Security to establish whether they are genuine. “Matters to deal with security including the threat to life of any Kenyans can only be handled by the minister for Internal Security, what role does the ministry of Foreign Affairs play here? He should not drag my name here,” Ongeri told the Star on the phone.
Ongeri, who later addressed journalists in Ichuni area of his Nyaribari Masaba constituency, said the allegations can only be part of a wider scheme to malign his name and taint his image as Kenya's chief ambassador. Yesterday, while addressing a congregation during an Easter Sunday mass at the St Stephen Cathedral in Kisumu, Raila asked leaders "to stop creating fear and despondency among the people because I am still alive and not afraid of death since it is a necessary evil that must come to pass in one's lifetime".
Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo elicited mixed reaction from many quarters when he claimed that there was a conspiracy to assassinate the Premier to block him from ascending to the presidency. Yesterday, Midiwo maintained his position that there was a scheme to stop Raila from the presidential race through an assassin’s bullet. The MP asked why the police have not summoned Ongeri for questioning even though he had mentioned him as among the people behind the scheme.
In an interview with the Star, the ODM chief whip said he stood by the claims he made in Bondo during a funeral service graced by Raila on Saturday. “I stand by what I said. It is upon the police to investigate the claims,” Midiwo said. The MP further claimed he had been forced to go public with the information "because police have the same information but they are doing nothing about it". “Some people in the police are involved in the scheme. They sit in the same meetings with the people who are planning the killing," he added.
Midiwo over the weekend refused to record a statement with the police in Bondo over his claims. After being grilled for an hour, the Gem MP declined to record any statement and said he would do it tomorrow (Tuesday) at the CID headquarters in Nairobi. Bondo police boss Patrick Mang’oli confirmed to the Star yesterday that the legislator did not record statement at the area police station. “He did not record a statement with us but agreed to do it on Tuesday at the police headquarters in Nairobi,” Mang’oli said.
A statement from the Prime Minister's spokesman Dennis Onyango said the Midiwo had agreed to record a statement at the CID headquarters tomorrow at 10 am. Midiwo, a cousin to Raila, shocked mourners at Anyuongi village in Bondo at a funeral that was also attended by PM and four cabinet ministers when he disclosed that there was a plot being hatched by a section of officials in the Foreign Affairs ministry to eliminate the PM.
He said the plot was to be executed in two weeks. The legislator challenged Ongeri to deny or confirm the claim. “They are looking for ways of carrying out damage control, which will be fatal and badly hatched so don’t be casual about it,” he told the PM. Yesterday Midiwo defended his decision to use a funeral gathering to make the accusations instead of reporting to the police. “I had no choice. The police are doing nothing even through they have the information. The people are our last frontier. We have come this far because of the people."
Midiwo said he did not record a statement at Bondo Police Station on the advice of his legal team, led by Lands Minister James Orengo. “They felt that since I had made the allegation, it was upon the police to investigate the allegations failure to which I will record the statement at the CID headquarters in Nairobi,” he said. Midiwo linked death threats to the PM’s strong stance on constitutional reforms which he said "is hurting anti-reform political leaders who vehemently opposed the new constitution at the referendum".
He was speaking during the burial of Dr Awuor Lea Gondi in the presence of the PM, his wife Ida Odinga and ministers James Orengo (Lands), Dalmas Otieno (Public Service), Anyang’ Nyong’o (Medical Services) and Finance assistant Minister Oburu Oginga. Raila said he heard of the claims for the first time. He seemed not to be shaken and sai that, “cowards fear and they die many times but I will once when my time comes.”
Orengo, who later accompanied Midiwo to Bondo police station, told Raila at the funeral not to take Midiwo’s statements lightly. His sentiments were echoed by Oburu Oginga. Nyong’o claimed he was recently approached by some members of the provincial administration in his constituency who told him a man of Tanzanian origin was in his village in Kisumu Rural constituency asking about different police stations in the area and the entire security system. Otieno said ODM party rivals have erected tens of bottlenecks to frustrate the PM’s presidential bid.
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