Majority Leader Adan Duale told Kenya’s National Assembly that the government of Kenya will seek the help of global law enforcement to make sure that James Joshua Walde is brought to the country to face trial for the death of Haji Rukindo in a fatal accident in July.
“He can run but Kenya will engage the Interpol and do all that it can to make sure he is sent back here to answer for the crime. This was a poor man from the slum and they (US embassy and government) thought they could get away with it,” said Duale.
Duale read a report from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations showing that Walde was driving on the wrong side of the road when the accident happened.
The Majority Leader informed the House that the diplomat “sneaked” out of the country a day after the accident in which a matatu collided with his car killing Rukindo and injuring eight other passengers. Rukindo was seated in the front seat.
Mr Nicholas Gumbo (Rarieda) said Walde ought to be brought to justice in Kenya if only for the government to prove that it takes the life of every Kenyan seriously. He said the diplomatic immunity that most of the diplomats wave around whenever they commit crimes was predicated on the fact that the diplomats would obey the laws of the host country.
Gumbo also insisted that the US Government should, aside from the “sympathies” expressed to the widow, pay for the upkeep of the family after one of its representatives robbed a family of its breadwinner.
“When Rukindo died, he left behind an unemployed wife, three children and the wife was six months pregnant,” said Gumbo.
Mr David Bowen (Marakwet East) complained that the embassy must have facilitated the exit of Walde from the country as soon as the gravity of the accident was realized.
“He knew he had killed a Kenyan that is why he was facilitated to get out,” said Bowen, adding that such an action was tantamount to “impunity”.
Duale said the government of Kenya failed in stopping Walde from leaving the country on July 12, just a day after the accident. He said Walde took off while the government was still trying to waive the diplomatic immunity.
But he insisted that the Director of Public Prosecution Keriako Tobiko should now pursue the extradition of the diplomat back to Kenya.
John Lodepe (Turkana Central) said if it were a Kenyan diplomat who had killed a US citizen in Washington, they wouldn’t have been allowed to leave the US. He said if the diplomat is left to go scot-free then the government will be exposing Kenyans to being “treated like dogs” in their own country.
Rachel Shebesh (Nairobi County) said some of the diplomats were involved in child pornography yet they had not been touched in any way. Duale agreed and said the government will act tough on diplomats who break the law.
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