A Canadian newspaper, the Financial Post has revealed the genesis of the bad blood between slain businessman Jacob Juma and deputy president William Ruto.
The publication reports that the Sh210 billion mineral finding at the Mrima Hills is the major cause of Jacob Juma linking Deputy president William Ruto for his death in most of his twitter posts.
Apparently a Canadian Company- Pacific-Wildcat had secured a licence to mine minerals at the Mrima Hills in March 2013, few weeks into the general election and businessman Jacob Juma had promised to work with them to ensure their project is not delayed by combating corruption and bureaucratic barriers in the Kenyan Government.
However, trouble befell the Canadian company when the Jubilee government under president Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto assumed power. The then Cabinet secretary for mining Najib Balala started making noises concerning the project and called for the nationalisation of Kenyan mine fields by saying that Kenya was not benefiting much from foreign investors.
It was at this point that Jacob Juma stepped in to assist the Canadian company sail through the rough Kenyan bureaucratic process.
"The businessman had just teamed up with Pacific Wildcat, having convinced the board that he could help the company get through some of the inevitable bureaucratic delays in Kenya. This was going to be his first big challenge," the paper reports.
The paper further reveals that on meeting Balala, by Juma's account the former mining minister demanded a bribe of Sh80 million or else he would cancel the Mrima Hills mining licence.
A dejected Juma decided to call a press conference and revealed the bribe claim by Balala, claims that Balala himself refuted as the reason why the government was cancelling Pacific-Wildcard licence, Balala further defended government's move by stating that they were cancelling the licence because it was awarded during a transitional period.
A year later after the cancellation, Pacific-Wildcat Director David Anderson met with Balala and Ruto to try and solve the crisis. But to their shock they were demanded to transfer Mrima Hills licence to a new company and the government wanted 50 percent of the project for free.
However, a charismatic Juma continued to accuse the government until his untimely death. He was particularly critical of the deputy president William Ruto.
Anderson revealed that Juma was increasingly concerned about his personal security and said he expected attempts were in place to take his life.
Juma was finally found dead in his car with autopsy suggesting he died from bullet wounds.