Mithika Linturi, the candidate for Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary (CS), has made an effort to provide additional information about the 35 lawsuits that have been filed against him as of this writing.
Linturi said in his statement on Friday when he appeared before the National Assembly’s Committee on Appointments for vetting that all of the cases are civil in nature and that he has never once been prosecuted, so any questions about his integrity are unfounded until the courts rule differently.
His remarks followed Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi’s suggestion that the former Meru Senator would be morally dubious given that he had previously been accused of rape and falsification.
Linturi was charged with attempted rape in Nanyuki in January 2021, however the alleged victim decided to drop the charges on October 3, 2022, after striking an out-of-court settlement with the former lawmaker.
In the same year, he was also charged with forging signatures to obtain a Ksh.530 million overdraft using Marianne Kitany’s possessions, which he firmly denies.
Linturi insisted that he was innocent throughout his whole speech on the House floor and that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) was conducting a witch hunt against him.
“I am an open book, in fact those that write and say I have a litany of cases is an understatement. As I sit here I have 35 cases in court, but they are all civil in nature,” he said.
Linturi also weighed in on the allegations of forgery, claiming that the DCI disregarded his requests for an investigation into claims he had made that the firms in question belonged to him rather than Ms. Kitany.
I did not forge any documents, this was a situation where the DCI was aiding the complainant who was attempting to take away my investments in this company,” he said.
“I was the complainant because my company had been taken away by fraudsters, but in the course of investigations the DCI and other agents had found a way to deal with me then I was also turned again to be a villain.”
