Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has threatened Senator Samson Cherargei of Nandi with legal action over his claim that a Chinese investor offered him a Ksh15 billion incentive.
CS Murkomen insisted in a demand letter delivered to the senator by his lawyers that the accusations were false and defamatory.
As a result, the Senator was informed that he would be sued if he did not apologise to the CS within seven days.
Additionally, Cherargei was asked to back up his assertions and acknowledge responsibility for defamation.
“The said words, in their natural and ordinary meaning, meant and were understood by ordinary, just and right-thinking members of society to mean that our client has committed the crime of receiving a bribe from China Wu Yi and is corrupt.
“The above words are in fact false and the same were published by you maliciously since you had no scintilla of evidence to believe in their truth either at the time you uttered them, or at all,” read the demand letter in part.
Cherargei, at a press conference on November 24, alleged that Murkomen was given a USD100 million bribe while on tour in China.
According to Cherargei, the bribe was issued between June and October this year and was meant to influence the award of tenders at the Transport Ministry.
The Senator had also claimed that part of the billions were used to finance the lifestyle of the CS.
“I want to dare him to tell the country what agreement did he agree on the allegation of receiving a hundred million US Dollars from China Wu Yi, where he was paid an upfront of fifty million, and we have all the facts. We have the flight manifest. We know where the money is in Dubai.
“It is that some of us are keeping what we call distance but it has reached a time that the country must know the truth and that is why he decided to ensure he gets protection from the House so that some of us do not speak and tell the county the truth,” Cherargei was quoted in the demand letter.
Murkomen and Cherargei have shared a frosty relationship in recent months and even clashed at a funeral in Nandi in October over tendering done for road projects in the county.
In early December this year, Cherargei alleged that he faced death threats and that Murkomen had already sued him in court.
