Martha Karua is ready to be probed over the BAT saga and will “totally cooperate” as she “has never taken a bribe in her life”.

Speaking during a press briefing at the party headquarters on Monday, the Narc-Kenya leader dismissed claims she received Sh7.5 million and a car from BAT as “malicious and false”.

“I have never taken a bribe and I know I am not alone in that. When I continued to stand up to speak out against corruption I speak for the majority. I was an anti-corruption crusader before it was cool,” Karua said.

“The narrative that the Jubilee Administration is peddling that we are all corrupt is sheer fiction the silent majority of Kenyans are not corrupt.”

She called on the Serious Fraud office in the UK and the Kenyan authorities to probe the British American Tobacco scandal that has implicated Kenyan politicians, including Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula.

Last week, The Independent reported that BAT – through Paul Hopkins – paid Karua in exchange for confidential KRA documents outlining a Sh15 billion five-year contract for new technology designed to stamp out tobacco smuggling.

“I have never in my tenure as a public servant offered or even entertained discussions about influencing any government contracts or procurement. At no time in my public career have I had responsibility for KRA,” Karua said.

“As a leader, I believe it is my duty to respond to questions raised by citizens. I am here to discharge my duty of accountability to the public concerning the allegations of Paul Hopkins’s contribution to my presidential campaign.”

Karua, who was accompanied by her lawyer Gitobu Imanyara, said Hopkins “made an individual donation” towards her presidential bid, “just like other people were”.

The Narc-Kenya leader said Hopkins had introduced himself as ‘businessman’ and she understood the money to be a personal contribution and not a corporate donation.

She added that her campaign secretariat had made Sh2 million and not Sh7.5 million as reported, but noted that The Independent story raised “valid questions that Kenyans must address”.

Karua said there was need to get full disclosure of the BAT activities and their conduct during the 2013 election and beyond.