Objection in Kabuga case thrown out

By Judy Ogutu

Wife of Rwandan fugitive Felicien Kabuga has suffered a setback following dismissal of an application challenging the High Court’s jurisdiction to handle a suit on her husband’s property.

Justice Muga Apondi threw out the preliminary objection that had been filed by Mrs Josephine Mukazitoni and said the main suit would be heard on September 28 and 29.

In May last year, Justice Apondi issued orders preserving the Spanish Villas, which is jointly owned by the Kabugas.

He restrained Kabuga, his wife Josephine and Kenya Trust Company (KTC) from selling, disposing off, wasting or damaging the property pending the conclusion of a case against Kabuga pending before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

He also directed KTC to deposit all rental income collected from the property with the Registrar of the High Court of Kenya.

The orders were issued following an application by Director of Public Prosecution Mr Keriako Tobiko.

He claimed Kabuga was using proceeds from the property to evade arrest and was a wanted genocide suspect. Mukazitoni then went to court through her advocates Kennedy Ogeto and Otachi Bwomanwa, saying the suit was incompetent, bad in law and a non-starter.

Making orders

She argued that the court was not an agent of ICTR and it could therefore not make orders, which are not within its jurisdiction.

Also, she argued that no justifiable claim or cause of action had been disclosed against her at all. Tobiko said the suit was properly before court and that the Kabugas jointly owned the property.

"I concur with the DPP the title to the property is joint, indivisible, inseparable and unserable from that of Kabuga. I do also agree that her title and interest are interwoven with that of her dear husband," the judge said.

He said the action was against the entire property and Kabuga should have registered the property in the name "of his dear wife."

The judge also said Kenya was a member of the United Nations and it plays host to key agencies such as UN Habitat and Unep.

Further, he said the UN Security Council regulations require member states to co-operate fully with ICTR.

 

 

Read all about: Josephine Mukazitoni Spanish Villas International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda ICTR

 

 

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