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Yes, Kenyan MP Mbadi heckled at funeral for linking deputy president to arms fraud

“Suba South MP John Mbadi heckled by mourners during the late Msambweni MP Suleiman Dori's funeral for linking DP Ruto with the Ksh.39B fake arms deal,” Kenya’s Citizen TV posted on its Facebook page on 9 March 2020.

The claim is that Mbadi, a member of parliament, was heckled at the funeral for suggesting Kenya’s deputy president William Ruto was involved in the multibillion-shilling arms deal scandal currently rocking the country.

Dori, also an MP, died on 9 March. He was buried at his home in Kwale the same day, with a number of political leaders attending. They included Mbadi.

But Citizen TV’s post was flagged as possibly false by Facebook’s fact-checking system. Was Mbadi heckled by fellow mourners at the funeral for linking Ruto to the arms case?



‘Second highest office can host criminals’


In a video of the funeral, Mbadi says: “It is a shame that the second highest office in this country can host criminals. It is a shame! And we cannot stop talking about something like that … Such a big shame!”

Suspects in the ongoing KSh39 billion military equipment tender fraud case reportedly met in Ruto’s offices. But the deputy president has distanced himself from the scandal, saying the suspects’ visit had nothing to do with him and that his office did not procure equipment on behalf of any government ministry.

The video shows that after Mbadi made the statement, mourners began to heckle him. He then claimed it was a slip of the tongue, asked for forgiveness and handed the microphone to the next speaker. – Grace Gichuhi




 

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