Dennis Itumbi found himself on the spot on Tuesday, May 12 after the Judiciary shared the ruling made by the Political Parties and Disputes Tribunal (PPDT) suspending the Jubilee-Kenya African National Union (Kanu) merger.
It emerged that the version shared by Ruto allies and allegedly presented to Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka was forged, as certain sections significantly differ from the original.
In Itumbi’s ruling for instance, the fifth-order claimed that any decision founded on the coalition agreement between Jubilee and Kanu was invalid, null and void.
In the version shared by the Judiciary, the section read differently as it temporarily halted the decision by the Registrar of Political Parties to recognize the coalition agreement deposited on May 4.
“That pending the hearing and determination inter partes this honorable tribunal is pleased to issue an interim order staying the decision of the 1st respondent in her letter dated 8th May, 2020, recognizing a coalition agreement purportedly signed between the 1st and 2nd interested parties and deposited on 4th May, 2020,” the section read in part.
The same section, in Itumbi’s version, read: “Meantime in the interest of justice, an interim order be and is hereby issued declaring that any decision or action founded on the coalition agreement purportedly signed between the 1st and 2nd interested parties and deposited on 4th May, 2020 and approved/confirmed by the first respondent vide her letter of 08.05.2020 confirmed by the 1st respondent is null and void and of no effect.”
He had shared the ruling as he spoke against the removal of Kipchumba Murkomen and Susan Kihika as Majority Leader and Whip in the Senate respectively.
“The Political Parties Tribunal rules that the KANU and Jubilee Post Election deal is illegal. Jubilee NEC must be convened for such a decision to be made The same has been communicated to Senate. So, The Senate leadership remains as it is,” Itumbi had claimed on Tuesday, May 12.
It is the alleged communication to the Senate that has sparked a furore, with a letter shared by Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna indicating that Murkomen and Kihika had presented the forged tribunal ruling to Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka.
The letter, sent from Victor Lee Legal on behalf of their client, Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju, claimed that he had been served with the falsified ruling.
“I am not even surprised that tanga tanga forged court orders. These are the worst crooks and fraudsters. Every document you see from Itumbi must be presumed a forgery until proven otherwise,” Sifuna wrote.
Differences were also noticeable in the sixth order given in the two versions of the ruling.
In the Judiciary ruling, the section read: “That pending the hearing and determination of this application inter partes, an interim order be and hereby issued to 1st, 2nd and 3rd respondents as well as the 1st and 2nd interested parties by themselves, their agents, and/or servants or employees restraining them from taking any action on the strength of the impugned coalition agreement purportedly signed between the 1st and 2nd interested parties and deposited on 4th May, 2020, including making changes to the position of Majority Leader and Majority Whip of the Senate.”
The same section in Itumbi’s version, however, claimed that Jubilee had been barred from making any coalition agreements without a valid resolution from a duly convened National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting.
