Charity Ngilu loses bid for separate charges over Karen land saga

Lawyers Paul Muite (left) and Kioko Kilukumi consult with suspended Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu before she was charged with obstructing investigations into the Karen land saga. PHOTO | PAUL WAWERU | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• The magistrate also declined an application by Mr Konzolo to suspend the proceedings until the High Court decides on who owns the land, ruling that the two cases could run concurrently.
• His dismissal of the application by the suspended CS and Mr Konzolo opened the way for them to be charged.
• All the accused persons denied the offences and were released on a cash bail of Sh1 million. The case is scheduled for further directions on July 13.

Suspended Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu has lost her bid to be charged separately over the controversial 134-acre Karen land.

Senior Principal Magistrate Lawrence Mogambi ruled that her rights would not be violated if she was to be charged together with former National Social Security Fund (NSSF) managing trustee Jos Konzolo and five other top officials at the ministry of Lands.

“All the charges are interrelated as one count leads to the other. It is therefore not true that Mrs Ngilu will suffer prejudice if prosecuted alongside the others just because of facing only one count,” ruled Mogambi.

The magistrate also declined an application by Mr Konzolo to suspend the proceedings until the High Court decides on who owns the land, ruling that the two cases could run concurrently.

His dismissal of the application by the suspended CS and Mr Konzolo opened the way for them to be charged.

According to the charge sheet, Mr Konzolo, Telesource.Com Ltd, Ms Sara Njuhi Mwenda, Geoffrey Swanya Birundi, Pauline Wanjiku Gatimu, Mark Muigai Wanderi, Macmilan Mutinda Mutiso and James Mbaluka fraudulently conspired to transfer the Karen land between 2005 and October 2014.

In the second and third counts, Ms Mwenda, Mr Birundi, Ms Gatimu and Mr Wanderi, who are all senior officials at the Lands ministry, were also accused of concealing genuine title documents and evidence relating to fraudulent transfer of the land.

FIFTH COUNT

Mrs Ngilu was charged on the fifth count, where she was alleged to have hindered the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission from collecting evidence regarding fraudulent acquisition of the Karen land by instructing officials at the Lands ministry not to release documents or record statements.

Mr Birundi and Mr Wanderi faced another charge of abuse of office, where it was alleged that they used their offices as title registries to improperly transfer the 134-acre land to Telesource.Com Ltd and enable its subdivision into 189 plots.

Mr Konzolo, and Mr Mutinda faced another charge of wilfully procuring registration of the land’s title to Telesource.Com Ltd through false pretences.

All the accused persons denied the offences and were released on a cash bail of Sh1 million. The case is scheduled for further directions on July 13.