I have never taken a bribe -Martha Karua

Narc Kenya party leader Martha Karua has has never taken a bribe as stated in a story  published by British newspaper ‘The Independent’ linking her to the British American tobacco (BAT) bribery allegations scandal.

The newspaper claims Karua received an equivalent of Ksh. 7.6 million from BAT secretly in political donations to block a rival firm from supplying a technology to tackle cigarette smuggling in Kenya.

In return for the donations paid via a middle man, BAT is said to have obtained crucial confidential Kenyan Revenue Authority documents on the Ksh. 15.2 billion five-year deal for new technology to stamp out tobacco smuggling.

However, in a response via her Twitter account, Karua has said the matter is being handled by her lawyers, further intimating she was not aware of the bribe which the story claims was given to her campaign aide Mary Mukindia.

The claims are contained in a BAT bribery and corruption claims dossier given to Britain’s Serious Fraud Office by Paul Hopkins, a whistle-blower who worked in Africa for BAT for 13 years.

More to follow….