‘I don’t do drugs,’ ICT CS nominee William Kabogo says

Speaking during his vetting at County Hall on Tuesday, the former Kiambu Governor allayed concerns of involvement in drug trafficking, more than 10 years since he was named as a suspect by the late Interior Minister George Saitoti.

Kabogo was defending himself after National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohamed awakened the ghosts of the Drug Baron Scandal where Kabogo, then Juja MP, was named alongside three other MPs.

He dismissed the claims, which he lightly said would not pass for the local drama series ‘Inspector Mwala’s script, clarifying that he had never involved himself in narcotics and that investigative bodies later vindicated him.

“I have never ever dealt with drugs of any kind all my life; I do not imagine Junet was talking about Panadol but I know he is talking about hard drugs cocaine and the rest,” he said.

“It is very disturbing subject but I invite Kenyans also to have a look at the dossier that Mr Saitoti brought to the House. The dossier is such that if it was given to Inspector Mwala, it would not pass Mwala’s script.”

Kabogo added, “Police did a thorough investigation and gave a report a month later. It was tabled and is part of the records in the House, and they found that I was not culpable. I had never been involved in drug trafficking, and I had never been a driver of Hon. Mwau, as that dossier had said.”

According to Kabogo, he is an astute businessman and during the allegations, he even offered to travel to the United States to assist with investigations.

Kabogo further argues that he also moved to court to sue those who defamed him at the time including current Nyali MP Mohamed Ali, who at the time was an investigative reporter. He said he was compensated after the conclusion of the case.

"I actually said on the floor that there was no need for anyone trying to do extradition proceedings to get me to travel to the US to answer the proceedings. I offered to travel to any part of the world but it never happened," he said.

"The authors of that dossier probably didn’t get what they wanted in messing with people’s names. I took them to court, it has taken long about 8 to 9 years, and finally, I got justice and was paid a little money. Circulation is still going on, and it is something I am going to live with all my life, but I don’t do drugs."

Prof Saitoti had named Kabogo among Trade Assistant Minister Harun Mwau, Kisauni MP Hassan Joho, and Makadara MP Gideon ‘Sonko’ Mbuvi as the MPs under investigation over links to drug trafficking. He made the sensational announcement on the floor of Parliament and also said Mombasa businessman Ali Punjani was also being probed over trade in narcotics.

All the  MPs denied the claims.