Former Kilome MP, John Harun Mwau, was one of the most controversial legislators of his era.
The Kenyan billionaire businessman-cum-politician had been labelled a ‘Narcotic Kingpin’ by the American government.
In 2011, he came out with very damning allegations against US president Barrack Obama, claiming that, the most powerful man in the world then, was after his life.
He claimed this was on account of his vast business holdings in the United States, reportedly valued at about Ksh75 billion.
“The US government knows that I have interests in a chain of businesses, especially in supermarkets. They know that we have been expanding and growing. They want to stop this and have their own people take them over,” Mwau alleged.
He further declared that his battle with the American government had nothing to do with drug trafficking, but rather was about his extensive and varied business interests in the United States.
Mwau also expressed fears for his life and called on the Kenyan government to protect him against being 'captured, shot and buried in the deep sea by U.S. snipers' in the same way former Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was eliminated.
Obama had called for economic sanctions against seven suspected narcotic kingpins under the U.S Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act of 1999 which, among other things, freezes the U.S.-based assets of international drug traffickers and denies designated drug lords access to the U.S. financial system.
Mwau and Kenyan businesswoman, Naima Mohammed Nyakiniywa aka Mwanaidi Mfundo alias Mama Leila were among the seven.
But Mwau, who continually maintained his innocence, added that the decision to label him a drug lord was part of an elaborate scheme by the American government to eliminate him and take control over his American assets.
