Mungatana loses first bid to quash arrest warrant

By EVELYN KWAMBOKA

Garsen MP Danson Mungatana's bid to quash a warrant of arrest against him flopped.

But Justice Fred Ochieng gave him a one-day reprieve when he issued an order restraining police from arresting him until today when a case filed by the MP is heard inter partes.

The judge said he would not issue any orders or give directions until he reads the application filed by Mr Mungatana under certificate of urgency.

Police obtained the warrant on Tuesday after the MP failed to appear in court to take plea in a case he is charged with issuing six bouncing cheques to a real estate company.

Mungatana allegedly borrowed Sh4,212,000 from the company to buy a piece of land at Embakasi.

It was to be refunded with an interest of 30 per cent.

But in his application, the Narc Kenya legislator says the charges are meant to embarrass him and force him to settle a civil debt.

"In any event, the charge sheet is fatally defective as I have never met the complainant, Mr Abhimanyu Garhwal, and I have never had any transactions with him," he stated in an affidavit filed at the court’s registry.

Mungatana claimed that Alfa Estates Limited gave him Sh4.2 million loan for a business venture at an interest of 30 per cent. The MP alleged that he was to confirm whether funds were available in his bank account before the company banked the post-dated cheques.

He also claimed that police have never summoned him to record a statement with regard to the charges. The MP wants the court to quash the decision by Attorney General Amos Wako and police, to charge and prosecute him.