Double trial as senior lands official charged with fraud in two courts

By MURIMI MWANGI

Nyeri County: A senior lands official who is currently on trial before a Nairobi court for alleged abuse of office has been arraigned before a Nyeri court on similar charges.

Agnes Wangu, a lands registrar at Ardhi House in Nairobi, was arraigned on Tuesday before a Nyeri court facing charges relating to fraudulent land deals that she allegedly committed between 2010 and 2011.

At the time she was the district lands registrar at the Nyeri Lands Registration office.

On the first count, Wangu was charged with defrauding the Government of Sh167,900 by irregularly transferring ownership of a parcel of land from Papius Mathenge to Jean Wanjiku; she conspired with the two to circumvent the mandatory land transfer fee.

However, the prosecutor, Inspector Catherine Wambua, expunged a second count relating to abuse of office after it emerged that the charge sheet was silent on her capacity when she allegedly committed the offence.

Quick reaction

Interjecting as the clerk read out the charges, Nyeri Chief Magistrate Wilbroda Juma noted that the prosecution had merely stated that Wangu was a lands official at the time, but did not indicate her capacity.

“Was she a sweeper, a messenger or a security guard, and how did that aid her to commit the said offence?” posed Juma. In a quick reaction, however, the prosecutor asked the court to expunge the abuse of office count.

Wangu was released on a bond of Sh200,000 with a surety of a similar amount or a cash bail of Sh150,000 pending the hearing of the case on October 11.

The charges in the Nairobi court relate to alleged irregular allocation of Government land and illegal disposal of public land.

She is charged alongside former Eldoret DC Benjamin Kutto, former Kenya Pipeline Corporation boss Ezekiel Komen and three other land officials.