Economy

Raila sues Duale over Sh40m Mumias debt claims

duo

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga (left) and parliamentary Majority Leader Aden Duale. PHOTOS | FILE

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has made good his threat to sue parliamentary Majority Leader Aden Duale with a civil suit filed Thursday at the Mlimani High Court.

The move came after Mr Duale ignored the seven-day period that the Opposition leader had issued on August 24 proposing an out-of-court settlement lapsed.

Mr Odinga has left it in the hands of the court to determine the level of compensation for the alleged defamation and to restrain Mr Duale from ever associating him with Mumias Sugar Company woes in future.

In the suit, Mr Odinga has accused Mr Duale of employing the defamatory words to weaken his agitation against a sugar import deal purportedly signed between Kenya and Uganda when President Uhuru Kenyatta visited the landlocked nation last month.

The court papers quote Mr Duale during a function in Belgut Constituency, Kericho, on August 15, saying Mr Odinga and his family owe the troubled sugar firm Sh40 million. 

Mr Odinga has also accused Mr Duale of using another function held three days later in Kericho to allegedly ask the people of Western Kenya to attend Mr Odinga’s rallies “to demand cheques to take their children to school”.

“The defendant knew or ought to have known that I do not owe Mumias Sugar Company,” he said.