After political duel between Sports CS Rashid Echesa and Kakamega senator Cleophas Malala degenerated into farce yesterday amid revelations the minister allegedly tried to frame the latter with fake nude photographs, Malala has now hired Lawyer James Orengo.
Orengo, whom Malala told the journalists that he was his lawyer, went to the Directorate of Criminal investigations to report the matter in what Malala cited that police from lower units might be intimidated.
Orengo is a reknown lawyer who rarely loses cases.
He is the one who presided over the NASA election petition after the 2017 general elections in which the presidential results were annulled.
Rashid, a self-professed ally of Deputy President William Ruto reportedly paid some three journalists to photoshop Malala’s image to portray him in a compromising situation with a non-existent woman.
The strategy was to flood the Internet with the pornographic pictures in a bid to tarnish Malala’s reputation, especially in Kakamega, where their supremacy battles have played out openly.
The vocal Malala, a close ally of Opposition chief Raila Odinga has been chiding Rashid, a former ODM national youth leader, as a Standard 7 drop-out who does not understand his work as CS.
Malala cited that phones that were being used by the arrested journalists to communicate with the sports CS were confiscated and they would not hand them to police until they get an expert to get them a copy.
He argued that the exhibit may be tempered with if handed over to the police.
The phones had the conversation text messages between Echesa and the journalists, with due agreements they met before the photoshop was done.
Malala has appealed to President Uhuru Kenyatta to stop CS Echesa from going on with his duties since he doesn’t hold any integrity measures as a public servant.
He argued that Echesa violates the Kenyan Constitution and has no any right to hold a public office.
The three journalists – David Ndolo, Stafford Ondego and Alex Njue – alleged to be Achesa’s hatchet men, were arrested on Tuesday evening and locked up at KICC police station.
According to police, the three are accused of taking Senator Malala’s photo image, cropping off the head, placing an unrelated naked body and juxtaposing it next to a nude woman.
“Yesterday in some social media network there was demeaning photos of the CS in an unknown lodging with a woman in compromising situations. When those went viral Rashid looked for journalists whom he sent the photos and told them to Photoshop and replace them with me and release them online. Because I have acumen on intelligence I was able to round up those journalists with the help of police,” Malala told reporters in Parliament yesterday.