Deputy President William Ruto now wants two lawyers who are allies of ODM leader Raila Odinga out of an ongoing case involving his hotel.
Lawyers Otiende Amollo and James Orengo are representing the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) in a case where the authority wants the Weston Hotel demolished and its land returned.
This is after the hotel was found to be illegally constructed KCAA land by the National Land Commission (NLC), with KCAA rejecting negotiation suggestions by the NLC.
Through his lawyer Ahmednassir Abdullahi, the DP wants the two barred from representing KCAA on grounds that they are acting with malicious intentions and ulterior motives.
Ahmednasir says that Orengo, the Siaya Senator and Senate Minority Leader cannot be part of the case, due to his positioning in the legislative arm of government.
“I will be filing an application seeking to have the applicant’s lawyers withdraw from the case. The issue to be determined will be whether members of an arm of Government can represent parties. He is a leader of the minority and is expressly prohibited by the Constitution,” Ahmednasir said on Thursday.
Amollo, on the other hand, is the MP for Rarieda, and both were elected to office on ODM party.
In response, Orengo laughed at the threat, saying that many such applications have been filed against him but they have always been futile.
“As to the application my learned friends wants to file, many have been filed against me without success,” he said.
KCAA in the case, wants its land back, arguing that the NLC has no grounds to suggest compensation of its land by the hotel.
A court has since ordered that not transaction be done between the two bodies, KCAA and Weston Hotel, until the case is heard and determined on October 3.