Former Cabinet Secretary Raphael Tuju has revealed that his ongoing Sh2.2 billion legal dispute has taken a toll on his family, with his children allegedly facing harassment and humiliation.
Speaking during Sunday service at St Michael All Angels ACK Cathedral in Bondo Town, Siaya County on Sunday, Tuju appealed to fellow Christians to pray for his children, saying he had been able to cope with his own difficulties through his faith.
“My own children right now are going through a lot of tribulations. I have gone through tribulations, but I can manage it. I'm strong enough to manage it through my faith, but my children need prayers,” he said.
Tuju said he did not want the challenges surrounding him to affect his children but claimed they had nevertheless been drawn into the dispute.
“Whatever I'm going through should not be visited on them, but unfortunately it has been visited on them,” he said.
The former minister said he had previously chosen not to discuss the matter publicly, making his remarks in church his first public comments about the impact on his family.
“I've not gone public with this. This is the first time I'm talking about it in public, but my children have been harassed, humiliated in so many ways,” he said.
Tuju did not give details of the alleged harassment or humiliation, nor did he identify those he believed were responsible.
He said his family had remained strong despite the difficulties and continued to draw strength from their faith.
“But we stay strong as a family because of the grace of God,” he said.
His coments come days after the Supreme Court cleared the way for a long-running appeal involving Tuju, his family, Dari Limited and the East African Development Bank (EADB) to proceed.
In a ruling delivered on September 25, the court reviewed its October 2024 decision that had seen four judges recuse themselves after Tuju and other applicants lodged a complaint with the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) alleging bias.
The court found that circumstances had since changed after the applicants withdrew the complaint, allowing Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu and Justices Smokin Wanjala, Njoki Ndung’u and William Ouko to resume handling the matter.