A Kenyan journalist based in the US, Peter Makori, has accused Attorney General Prof Githu Muigai of hurdling his compensation of Sh12 million for torture and illegal imprisonment.
He was granted Sh5,053,671 in 2006. The money has now hit Sh12 million due to accumulated interest.
He told the Star that the AG’s office has frustrated his effort to get the money because they are asking him to forfeit Sh5 million accrued as interest which is unacceptable.
“Ever since the AG’s office was served with the court order to pay, officials at the State Law Office have been demanding that I ‘negotiate’ the accrued interest. The officials wrote to me in the recent past, demanding I accept Sh7 million out of a possible Sh12 million,” Makori said.
“I rejected the offer because it amounts to extortion, and the AG has no powers under any law to subject me to such negotiation.”
Efforts to contact the AG’s office on comment for the matter have been futile.
Makori was first arrested in 2003 while reporting on the killing of two chiefs in Kisii County. He was later charged with the killing of an assistant chief, who was found fatally shot in his house in Bokeire sub-location.
During his time in detention, he says Flying Squad officers tortured him in effort to get a confession.
He was later remanded at Kodiaga Prison for 11 months and released after the AG terminated his prosecution for lack of evidence.
After he got out, he filed a complaint with the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights. A quasi-judicial tribunal was constituted under the KNCHR Act 2003 to hear his case of human rights violations where he was awarded Sh5,053,671.
He later filed the declaration by KNHCR with the High Court where it was adopted as a judgment of the court where retired Deputy Chief Justice Kalpana Rawal directed the government to pay the awarded sum together with the accrued interest.
However, when he served the High Court order and decree for Sh8 million to the AG in 2013, he was urged to negotiate the accrued interest.
He termed it illegal. “The AG is expected to uphold, maintain and protect the rule of law,” he says. “He has no powers to vary, modify or in any way seek to twist a court order to suit his whims.
“He is obligated under the law to pay the decreed amounts without question,” he says.
Senior State Counsel Charles Mutinda in July 2013 wrote to Makori’s advocates asking them to negotiate a settlement, despite clear orders from the court to pay the awarded sum and accrued interest.
“The solicitor general had on 1st July 2013 advised that we pursue a negotiated settlement with the Claimant. As such, I wrote to the Advocate for the Claimant on 17th July 2013 (folio 40) and offered to have this matter settled, at Sh5,053,671 being the amount awarded by the KNCHR tribunal without the accrued interest,” Mutinda said as further quoted by the Star.
Last year, State Counsel Mary Murugi wrote to Makori’s lawyer Ken Ogetto stating that the out-of-court settlement is still on.
“Our client is still amenable to pursue an out-of-court settlement on the above matter. In a bid to reach an amicable settlement and on a without prejudice basis, kindly quantify your client’s claim for our client’s consideration.”
But Makori turned this down citing that, “I have refused, and I’ll continue to refuse these illegal and extortion overtures from the AG’s office. Even if it takes another 20 years to have this matter settled, I am not ready to compromise on what I believe is right and just. This is because the court did not say that interest on the amounts shall be determined by the AG.”
Makori will be on life-long medication due to injuries foot injuries he sustained during his detention.
His doctor, Dr Alvin Smith, a foot surgeon at Samuel U Rodgers Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, in the US said that, “Makori suffered debilitating injuries and he shall live on constant medication for the rest of his life.”
In his diagnosis, he noted that “[Makori] has experienced pain periodically on both feet since that period… [he] has been informed that he may well experience this pain due to these injuries for the rest of his life.”