Tuju daughters case on mother’s mental health dismissed

Mrs Ruth Akinyi , Raphael Tuju's estranged wife leave Kilimani police on July 04, 2013. PHOTO/FILE 

In Summary

• Application by Alma Tuju and Yma Tuju was not properly before the High Court
• Ruth Akinyi was charged with assaulting and causing actual bodily harm to Felix Omondi Abuodha
• Mother has been violent to other workers

By PAUL OGEMBA
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Former Cabinet Minister Raphael Tuju’s daughters have failed in their bid to save their mother from criminal prosecution on grounds that she is of unsound mind.

Lady Justice Lydia Achode ruled that the application by Alma Tuju and Yma Tuju was not properly before the High Court and directed that the issues they had raised about their mother Ruth Akinyi be argued before the trial court.

“The proper forum for determination of the application is the trial court. The accused person’s counsel is well placed to make the application before that court on her behalf since by the nature of what is being alleged, she may not be in a position to make that application,” ruled Judge Achode.

Ms Akinyi was charged with assaulting and causing actual bodily harm to Felix Omondi Abuodha on August 23, 2013.

Her twin daughters sought to stop the criminal prosecution claiming that she is not in her rights senses and needs psychiatric assistance, and that it was a violation of her rights to stand trial on matters she had no control.

Judge Achode however ruled that the trial court has the capacity to inquire about the soundness of Ms Akinyi’s mind and make appropriate orders.

“The Criminal Procedure Code provides that when in the course of trial the magistrate has reason to believe the accused maybe of sound mind and incapable of mounting a defence, it shall inquire into the fact of unsoundness. It is on that basis that I decline to entertain the application at this stage and order that it be presented before the trial magistrate,” she ruled.

ALCOHOL

Apart from seeking to stop the criminal prosecution of their mother, Alma and Yma wanted her to be placed under psychiatric care by a doctor chosen by their mother’s uncle David Wanjare, her cousin Joseph Wanjare and sisters Sabina Achieng, Rita Aluoch, Pamela Akeyo and Mary Ochieng.

Ms Alma swore an affidavit stating that their mother brought them up well until when she started drinking alcohol and they noticed her behaviour and actions were erratic.

“Our mother deserves help, not condemnation since we believe the mother we grew up with is a good, morally upright woman and the image of her we have seen recently cannot be reconciled with the mother who brought us up,” she stated.

She swore that they had been on the receiving end of their mother’s abnormal actions which are unlike her and which make them believe she is not responsible for the actions and requires psychiatric intervention.

According to Alma, their mother put her clothes in a suitcase and hid it for two months, poured water on her twin sister’s computer and at the same time ordered them to leave their home to go search for husbands.

She added that early 2012, her mother instructed late Anthony Ogunda to beat her for being disrespectful and that when their mother came home drunk in February, she grabbed her throat and threatened to kill her but was saved by their father, Mr Tuju.

The late Ogunda was at the centre of a divorce case Mr Tuju had filed against his estranged wife, claiming that the two were having an affair. He was found dead in a house belonging to Mr Tuju along Matumbato Road in Upper Hill, Nairobi County in July.

Ms Alma swore that their mother has been violent to other workers and at one time promised to pay some of them if they threw a cleaner from the balcony
.

She added that despite the pending divorce case, they have prevailed upon their father to provide financial support to help her get psychiatric treatment.