Governor Kidero maintains he is innocent, dismisses bribery allegations

Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero maintains he is innocent and dismisses as ‘wild’ allegations that he bribed Justice Philip Tunoi.

 Dr Kidero allegedly bribed Justice Tunoi with Sh200 million to rule in his favour in an election petition filed by his rival then, Ferdinand Waitititu, the Kabete MP. His lawyer Ochieng Oduol, yesterday said the JSC committee was inquisitorial in nature and did not have powers to cross examine his client.

“They asked Kidero whether parties know one another... Do you know Kiprop and my client answered in the affirmative,” Lawyer Oduol said. Oduol narrated how the Governor was asked if he knew and had met Justice Tunoi and he answered that he had not met him and only knew him in the media and the closest he had come close to the Judge of the Supreme Court was when he appeared for the petition case and saw him from a distance.

Asked about specifics of his whereabouts on the day and time of alleged meeting at a petrol station where he is alleged to have given out a bribe, Kidero said he was at his Nairobi home and CCTV reviews showed him enjoying tea on his veranda.

“My house has 24-hour CCTV cameras and I normally never leave home after 7pm; I move around with at least 11 people around me at any one time and those are questions the indictment would have to answer,” Kidero said.”

Kidero said: “I have two policemen guarding my gate at night and another two during the day. I also have private security guards who man the gate and log in entries of guests in and out of the compound,” he said. Kidero also told the committee that he knew his personal assistant John Osogo. The Governor however clarified that he had not commissioned him to take a bribe to anybody. He also challenged the committee on how the money would have been moved in a short time between the alleged 2pm lunch meeting at Lonrho House at 4pm when banks were closing.

Kidero is also said to have demanded to know what size of package could carry 2 million US dollars as claimed by accusers of Justice Tunoi.

The JSC also accorded Mr Kiprop Chirchir five minutes after being summoned by phone to tell his side. Kiprop told the committee he had taken photos from his tablet, all showing GPS location and time codes of the alleged time he was at the petrol station. “I was in my house enjoying private moments and they can call Google to verify the kind of information and photographs I took. I was in my pyjamas at the alleged time (August 7, 2014 at 8.24pm),” Kiprop told the JSC committee.

Kiprop is alleged in the accuser's affidavit to have been driving the Governor as the bribe was presented to Justice Tunoi.

JSC committee is said to have asked the Central Bank of Kenya to verify what kind of package would carry such an amount of money and the answer was that one needed a one-and-a-half-metres box by one-metre box to be able carry it. Records of banks transaction were also cross-checked on the day the money is alleged to have been given as investigators tried to piece evidence that such an amount was withdrawn and given to Justice Tunoi.