Lawyer Paul Mwangi explains why Raila never sued Miguna Miguna
By Mustafa Juma, October 23, 2025Lawyer Paul Mwangi, the former prime minister Raila Odinga’s long-time legal adviser, has opened up on why the late Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader never sued his former aide, Miguna Miguna, despite pressure from allies who wanted him to pursue defamation charges.
Speaking on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, night, during an interview with a local TV station, Mwangi stated that Raila viewed criticism as part of public life. As a result, he always sought to protect the country’s unity over personal battles.
Miguna Miguna’s book
He narrated that when Miguna Miguna launched his book titled Peeling Back the Mask in 2012, there was a lot of pressure to get him sued.
However, Mwangi says he managed to convince Raila not to sue, despite pressure from some of the then-prime minister’s close allies who wanted to use the power of his office to get the book’s author arrested and charged with criminal libel.
“After the book by Miguna came out, he was outside the country, and there were different ideas from different people on what we should do. Some people wanted a big defamation suit, some lobbying me to convince him to file the suit; other people wanted to use the office of the Prime Minister to get Miguna arrested and charged with criminal libel, but I thought about it and said no. My advice to him has to be, You are not going to sue,” Mwangi explained.
Article articulating Raila’s position
He went ahead to explain that he later drafted an article articulating Raila’s position on why he would not sue Miguna, noting that the statement eventually became a public op-ed published in one of the leading local dailies.
“I told him we need to explain the reasons, but I don’t want you involved because then it might appear as if you were defending yourself personally. He called me the next morning and said, Okay, fine, you proceed. So I sent the article to the Nation, and on Sunday, it ran. There was a news item and a big op-ed explaining why Raila would not sue Miguna,” Mwangi narrated.
The lawyer further revealed that the only time Raila came close to suing was when then-Garissa Township MP Aden Duale made remarks deemed defamatory. However, he clarified that even that case was never pursued to completion.
“We only sued Duale once, but we never served the summons. So technically, it’s zero,” he said.