Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru says she has withdrawn her defamation case against former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
She said this in a tweet after meeting with the AU High Representative for Infrastructure at the latter’s Capitol Hill office on Wednesday.
The row between Raila and Waiguru arose in 2015 after the ODM leader demanded the governor’s prosecution for graft at NYS.
They shook hands today and Raila Odinga forgave Anne Waiguru all her sins. She is now mweupe pepepe pic.twitter.com/L5BFntKB4E
— Lord Abraham Mutai (@ItsMutai) November 14, 2018
The issue culminated into the county boss suing Raila for linking her to the loss of Sh791 million at the youth agency.
Waiguru, then Devolution CS, sued Raila on September 29, 2015, accusing him of recklessly tarnishing her name.
The ODM leader, on the other hand, sought the court’s say on his call for Waiguru to be subjected to a lifestyle audit.
But after their meeting, the Kirinyaga county boss said the matter stands settled ‘in the spirit of cohesion’.
The Spirit of the National Handshake lives on@RailaOdinga#BuildingBridges pic.twitter.com/Vn7tOtLq23
— Anne Waiguru (@AnneWaiguru) November 14, 2018
“Just had a meeting with Raila on the outstanding matter in court. In the spirit of cohesion and reconciliation in the country, the matter stands settled,” she said.
Raila, on his part, said: “Held a meeting with Waiguru and agreed to “let by-gones be by-gones” and leave the matter of the NYS scandal in the hands of investigators.”
Kirinyaga governor Anne Waiguru and ODM leader Raila Odinga appear to have buried the hatchet after holding a meeting early today at capitol hill, Nairobi. #KTNPrime pic.twitter.com/xHuuxmC2hs
— ktn (@KTNKenya) November 14, 2018
He added: “She said her case against me is now settled in the spirit of reconciliation that the nation has embarked on. We also reviewed the status of devolution in the country and agreed to exchange views frequently on how to address the challenges.”
Early in the year, Waiguru had requested the High Court to allow the case against Raila to proceed.
Raila had requested that the hearing be stopped until he files an appeal challenging a ruling issued last November.
Do the handshake between Raila Odinga and Anne Waiguru mean that Raila has withdrawn this SPECIFIC statement and that now they are friends? Was this a game? A friend told me that in Kenya it is People Vs Politicians… pic.twitter.com/s0brUH5p6y
— Lord Abraham Mutai (@ItsMutai) November 14, 2018
The ruling allowed the governor to conceal certain information regarding her lifestyle.
Raila had released a dossier claiming President Uhuru failed to include Waiguru’s name on a list of corrupt State officers.
Raila Odinga on Anne Waiguru a few years ago. Kenyan politics move quite so fast. You need to have a safety belt and switch off the speed governor pic.twitter.com/mxfaL5paBS
— Lord Abraham Mutai (@ItsMutai) November 14, 2018
Uhuru’s list saw several senior government officials, including Cabinet Secretaies lose their jobs.