Court throws out Koigi Wamwere’s mother compensation case

The Court of Appeal in Nairobi has rejected former Subukia MP Koigi Wamwere’s mother's plea for compensation over alleged torture by the Government.

While affirming a High Court’s decision that Monicah Wangu had not proved her case against the State, justices Mohamed Warsame, Agnes Murgor and Patrick Kiage found that it was a speculative afterthought.

According to the judges, although she had claimed having no faith in the Judiciary before 2013, she never explained why she delayed filing the case after 2003.

Judges observed that Koigi himself filed his case in 2008, five years before her and was compensated by the same court she was claiming to lack confidence in.

In 2015, Koigi got Sh12 million from the same court that has now dismissed his mother's case. He had initially been awarded Sh2.5 million by the High Court.

On appeal, judges found that the amount was inadequate.

Koigi’s mother had claimed that her house was razed by Government operatives and her land grabbed by senior State officials.

It later emerged that her claims could not be proved.

Judges said that although they sympathised with her, she could not be helped.

“Mere claims without solid evidence remain sentimental hopes, which are no good. The appellant had an obligation to prove her case on a balance of probabilities and from the evidence before the court, and we say this not without sympathy and respect, it was not sufficient to prove that any form of torture was meted out against her,” they ruled.