NAIROBI, Kenya Aug 24 – Miguna Miguna has now likened his recent suspension as Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s advisor on coalition matters to an ‘assassination.’
In his first TV interview since his suspension, Mr Miguna told K24′s Capital Talk that he still cannot believe that the Prime Minister could suspend him in such an unorthodox manner.
“I feel like I have been assassinated… that is the way I feel. I feel like my life, my career, my character, my reputation, what I have lived for throughout my life; the dreams, the aspirations, the ideals have just been assassinated for absolutely no reason,” Mr Miguna said in the interview with Capital Talk’s Jeff Koinange. “It feels very very bad.”
He said he was yet to know why he was suspended because nobody has told him to date why he was handed a letter sending him home without a salary.
“Nobody has told me why I was suspended. Nobody has told me what happened. Nobody has given any explanation or reason… and even the letter they released scandalously does not contain any particulars about dates; about places of the allegations they are making,” he stated, dismissing as “nonsensical, issues to do with his contract.”
Mr Miguna explained that he was appointed on March 6, 2009 through a letter from the Head of the Civil Service on instructions from the President, in consultation with the Prime Minister.
He doubled up as the joint secretary of the Permanent Committee on the Management of Coalition Affairs.
“I was, and I have been the counterpart of Prof Kivutha Kibwana. The terms were agreed on at a meeting we held on March 6 and the terms were identical to Kivutha Kibwana’s terms,” he said.
“When the letter came, they had changed the terms so he told me to write back if there were issues. In fact, he requested me to have the terms relayed to the PS at the PM’s office. They are the ones who told me what Kivutha Kibwana earns and even gave me a copy of Kibwana’s pay slip and they told me to copy the details and include them in my letter and that is what I did,” he said and wondered why he was being paid less than Prof Kibwana.
He said he had been doing the same work with Prof Kibwana and therefore, there was no reason why he should earn less.
Mr Miguna is convinced that it is not the controversy surrounding his pay that led to his suspension.
He was suspended on August 4 through a letter signed by the Permanent Secretary at the PM’s office Mohammed Isahakia.
The letter stated that he would not earn a salary until investigations into his conduct were complete.
In the Capital Talk interview, Mr Miguna said it was unfortunate that the government had not put in place proper systems as enshrined in the new Constitution, a year after it was promulgated.
“It is too unfortunate. Look, there is no formation of the National Police Service under competent leadership. The police service is the way it was,” he said.
“Look at the Executive. Nothing significant has changed. I tried to impress upon the CIC that they needed not to have Bills processed through the Executive because as a constitutional body it should coordinate and supervise the drafting of legislations between the Law Reform Commission and AG’s office and then take the draft legislation after consultation and wide input from the public to the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee which will then look at it and then present it to Parliament for debate and passage. There is no need to go through Parliament again,” he said.
Asked to comment on the performance of Parliament, Mr Miguna said on a grade of A to F: “Parliament is at E… honestly they have not done anything that surpasses our expectations. They have not done this at all.”
On corruption, Mr Miguna said poor governance had led to widespread graft “and there is nobody being taken to account.”
“Look at corruption, most of the time, the corruption that is not punished is corruption that costs the country hundreds of billions of shillings enough to feed us but nobody is being taken to account. Look at Triton, Goldenberg, Maize scandals every single thing and nobody has been called to account. To me that is the worst crime the government can partake in, worst than the criminals running around,” he said.
Asked what he will do now that he stands suspended, he said he will continue writing.
“I will continue writing; I will continue being involved in the democratisation process. Miguna Miguna will write a book,” he said in parting.
Source- http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2011/08/24/miguna-it-was-like-an-assassination/
