Gatundu South legislator Moses Kuria has come clean on rumours that he received a ksh100,000 bribe within Parliament buildings to influence his vote in the House.
Kuria while appearing before the disciplinary committee on Thursday in Parliament according to BBC said that he got the money from the office of the Majority Leader.
He said this is a norm and nothing out of the ordinary for MPs in the house.
“It is not uncommon in Kenya for members of parliament to be paid or compensated to vote in a particular way, especially when the government has an interest in a matter,” the MP said in defence to indiscipline claims levelled against him.
Kuria said he was paid Ksh100,000 to vote for Kipipiri MP Amos Kimunya, who took over as the Majority Leader after Garissa Township legislator Aden Duale’s ouster in June 2020.
“When the new Majority Leader was appointed because they were not elected,” he continued, “we went to the majority leader’s office and received a USD 1000 gift.”
Asked why he took the cash knowing he was flouting the tenets of the constitution, Kuria maintained that he would be okay refunding the money given the chance.
Kuria defended himself by saying that if given the chance, he would gladly refund the money.
“I’m not sure if the money belonged to Kenyan taxpayers, but I’ll be refunding the most recent that I can recall to the office of the leader of the majority,” he said.
He also said that he does not expect Parliament to take the blame for its wrongdoings but insisted that bribery is commonplace in Parliament.
“These things don’t happen on camera, and I don’t expect them to admit it, but they do happen in the majority leader’s office,” he retorted.
At the same time, Kuria jumped at the chance to cast aspersions on the proposed constitutional amendments through the BBI Bill, calling the entire process a sham secured through deception and corruption.