What is the difference between Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Franklin Mithika Linturi? Well, one is Roosevelt and the other one is accused of being a loose cannon.
Another case in court touching on attempted rape alleges Mr Linturi, the Meru senator, might also have a loose belt, but he has dismissed it as an extortion ploy taken too far and he is out on bond as the court case continues.
Accusations in another divorce case involving him and his friend-turned-foe Miriam Kitany also suggests Mr Linturi is a man with loose morals because Ms Kitany has told the court that he was married when he started a relationship with her in 2014.
Mr Linturi’s supposed loose tongue made hell break loose last Saturday when he made remarks about “madoadoa” as he addressed a gathering in Eldoret.
“On further reflection, and upon the advice of my colleagues, I regretfully concede that my choice of words was unfortunate. I therefore apologise, unreservedly, for the discomfort they may have created,” he said in a statement that evening as calls for his sanctioning gathered steam.
On Monday, Dr Ruto amplified the apology.
“He made a statement which he regrets; a statement that had inappropriate language. And Senator Linturi has apologised. He has withdrawn the statement and he has unconditionally apologised to the people of Kenya,” said Dr Ruto in Bomet. “And we want to say, going forward, and I want to tell members of my team, the Hustler Nation, that all of us must mind our language.”
Franklin Roosevelt, the US president between 1933 and 1945, once said: “I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made.”
If enemies made are a measure of political prowess, Mr Linturi is likely to be proud of himself because in his political career that started in 2007 when he won the Igembe South parliamentary seat, he has clashed with many.
He has had many fights, big and small, and in those fights he has brought himself other fights. For instance, his bid to have the then Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru in 2014 indirectly led to another fight later on when Ms Kitany, the woman who was sent to “talk” him away from the impeachment route, ended up having a court fight with her amid the question of whether or not they got married at some point.
And in his disagreements with the pro-government wing of Jubilee Party as he vouches for Dr Ruto, he has faced enemies in many forms. During the Eldoret rally, Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua, who also sought to drive the message that Dr Ruto should get unequivocal support in his home turf, gave a description of that.
“We are now suffering. I get arrested, Ndindi Nyoro gets arrested, Kimani Ichung’wa gets ejected from a committee, [Oscar] Sudi is arrested, Susan Kihika is ejected,” he said.
Mr Linturi was into insurance business before he ventured into politics. If tongues could be insurable for things they utter, he might have considered taking a general insurance cover for his. But he insists he is not as dagger-tongued as some people might have perceived him to be.
On Sunday, while in police custody, he told journalists: “What I meant was that those people that are not followers of UDA should be rejected by the Uasin Gishu voters. I am not a warlord. I am not a warmonger. You know I am peace-loving, and I preach peace. I have no record of preaching violence.” BY DAILY NATION