By Joshua Cheloti

Controversial lawyer Danstan Omari is now cautioning the Kenya Kwanza government against going after retired President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Omari warns that any attempts to drag Uhuru to court will backfire on the government, led by President William Ruto.

Speaking during a morning show interview at NTV on February 1, 2023, the lawyer said it will be a bad idea for Ruto to go after Uhuru, while his predecessors never targeted retired Presidents.

“Kibaki said I will never disturb Moi when he ascended to power and it was the same case for Uhuru who also said he would not interfere with the life of Kibaki when he retired,” Omari said.

“But we have a new regime that wants to drag Uhuru to court,” he added.

He was making reference to recent calls for the audit of all taxes that the former President’s family had paid through his vast businesses.

However, according to the lawyer, the impact of taking Uhuru to court might be negative on the current administration.

“I think that Kenya kwanza is sleeping on the volcano they have raised and the volcano is going to hit and hit and hit them very hard,” he said.

“The retired president has a lot of force globally; we’re looking at two serious international figures. Raila Odinga combined with Uhuru Kenyatta, globally, they control 80 per cent of networks,” he added.

The lawyer further described Ruto as a local President whose members of the cabinet and key allies are only known in their regions.

He argues that fighting Uhuru is an issue the government should consider withdrawing “and avoid taking that line”.

Calls to probe the retired President’s family came after Ruto claimed a section of individuals had used positions of influence to exempt themselves from paying taxes.

The statement has since been linked to the Kenyatta family, with claims a majority of their businesses never pay taxes.

Ruto had however insisted that under his government, everyone would fulfil their tax obligation.

“This country is not the animal farm where some are more equal than others, we are going to have a society where every citizen carries their fair share of our burden to raise our taxes,” the Head of State said during a National Assembly’s Post-Election Seminar in Mombasa.