MP Moses Kuria Admits to Receiving Sh100,000 Bribe in Parliament

Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria has admitted to receiving a bribe in order to vote in a certain way in Parliament.

Speaking to BBC on Thursday, Kuria averred that cash inducements are dished out at the office of the Majority Leader within parliament’s precincts.

“It is not uncommon in Kenya for members of parliament to be paid or compensated to vote in a particular way, especially when the government has an interest in a matter,” Kuria said.

Kuria confessed that he was paid Sh100,000 in June last year to vote for Kipipiri MP Amos Kimunya as the new National Assembly majority leader following the removal of his Garissa Township counterpart Aden Duale.

“When the new Majority Leader was appointed because they were not elected, we went to the majority leader’s office and received a USD 1000 gift,” Kuria noted.

When pushed to explain why he accepted a bribe despite knowing it was illegal, the outspoken MP said he was ready to refund the money.

“I’m not sure if the money belonged to Kenyan taxpayers, but I’ll be refunding the most recent that I can recall to the office of the leader of the majority,” he said.

Asked whether he could prove his allegations, he said, “These things don’t happen on camera, and I don’t expect them to admit it, but they do happen in the majority leader’s office.”

Kuria is among three MPs who were summoned by parliament on Thursday for disorderly conduct.

Kuria and his counterparts Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu) and Mohamed Ali (Nyali) were summoned for dishonoring the house by claiming that MPs were bribed to vote for the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill 2020, popularly known as the Building Bridges Initiatives (BBI) Bill.