How ex-MP gave fraudsters Sh2.1m in hope of Sh30m

BY WAHOME THUKU

Two days after a Member of Parliament watched as former friend told the court how he wrote and passed exams for him, it was his turn to laugh at his opponent.

The court that was told how Gatundu North MP Clement Waibara was assisted to ‘pass’ his proficiency exams, also heard his predecessor concede he lost Sh2.1million to fraudsters. The fraudsters had promised to print for him currency notes worth Sh30 million.

Mr Patrick Muiruri, who is an accomplished private investigator, conceded four months to the 2007 General Election in which Waibara was supposed to have cheated his way to victory, he was heavily defrauded. He told court the fraudsters claimed to work for a money-printing plant, De La Rue — an establishment he sees to his left on Thika Road, when he drives to his home in Gatundu.

On Tuesday Waibara fidgeted in court as his education background was torn apart, but he was all smiles as Muiruri turned the laughingstock because of how he dreamt he would replenish his bank accounts with millions of shillings only to lose out to conmen. His next stop was to report to the police how he had been conned.

It was not clear if he saw himself, when he drove to the police to report the fraudsters, that he could have been an accomplice to a crime. The ‘business’ he paid for amounted to just that.

Patrick Muiruri

Muiruri had apparently been outsmarted by conmen whom he gave money directly, through his wife, and personal assistant. As to whether the money would have gone into his campaigns for Gatundu North seat is anyone’s case?

He told the court, which was shown a copy of his statement to the police, and in which he was appearing as a witness against Waibara, he only realised he had been cheated when the people, introduced to him by his niece, failed to deliver the ‘millions’.

Muiruri, then Agriculture Assistant minister, said the men claimed they could print for him photographic paper money, which could be ‘cleaned’ into real currency. During their meeting at a five-star hotel, Muiruri was asked to raise Sh700, 000, for the deal.

"On June 21, 2007, I sent my Personal Assistant Kinuthia and withdrew Sh400,000 from my personal account at Co-operative Bank, Parliament Branch," he stated. Adding, "At 7pm Christopher (one of the cons) came to Parliament, my PA brought the money to the members’ lounge and I gave him the money in front of my PA."

CHEMICALS AND EQUIPMENT

Muiruri told the court how the man asked him to raise Sh2.1 million for ‘chemicals’ and equipment to treat the money and transform it into acceptable currency. He did as asked, and the man went for the cash at his house on June 27.

The man promised to deliver Sh15 million to his house. The following day, Christopher took a briefcase containing the money, and Muiruri’s wife gave him Sh300,000.

"I was with my wife when I handed over the money to him. He promised to come back on June 29, 2007, with the chemical and the equipment to clean the money, but he did not show up," his statement read.

The men continued postponing the finalisation of the deal. Muiruri, sensing he had been swindled, reported the matter to police.

Lawyer Evans Ondieki pushed him to admit he was involved in the money-printing syndicate. At one point, when responding to the lawyer’s questions, an agitated Muiruri burst out: "Yes, I paid the money for the printing, so what?"

Asked by the Judge to answer, he said: "These people were conmen. They were arrested and charged. That case is still going on. It is a matter in a different court." When Ondieki asked him if he lost Sh2.8 million, he replied: "I am saying that the total amount I lost was Sh2.1million. I paid to have Sh30 million."

On Tuesday Gatundu North MP, Clement Waibara fidgeted in court as his education background was torn apart, but he was all smiles as Muiruri became the laughing stock after it emerged that he lost Sh2.1m to conmen. [PHOTO: Habil Evans/STANDARD]

Ondieki said Muiruri had admitted involvement in fraudulent activities and his evidence should be disregarded.

Voter Peter Kamau first filed the petition against Waibara in 2008. He later pulled out of the case, and it was taken over by another voter Bernard Chege Mburu. Muiruri was the second witness to testify before residing judge, Justice Fred Ochieng’.

The lawyer’s intention was to discredit Muiruri as a witness.

On Tuesday, another witness, Martin Ndung’u Kahura, astonished the court when he confessed he took proficiency exams on behalf of Waibara, for him to qualify to contest for the parliamentary seat. Ndung’u, an electrical engineer, told the court Waibara pleaded with him to sit the exams for him. Finally, over tea at the Dancing Spoon Restaurant, Nairobi, he agreed to do so for free, and out of mercy for a man he described as his friend.

SCHOOL DROPOUT

The petitioner’s ground of the case is that Waibara is a school dropout who cannot articulate himself in English and Kiswahili.

Chege and Muiruri claim Waibara does not qualify to be an MP, as he does not possess requisite academic qualifications and aptitude.

Ndung’u said he was then spilling the beans because the memory of what he did haunted him, and because he had offended Gatundu North voters. He recalled how Waibara gave him his ID on November 1, 2007. He went to the panel of examiners on the Fourth Floor of Jogoo House, where he was given an essay to read in English and another one to write.

"I took the exam on his behalf. I impersonated him," he said. He said he was awarded 23 of 25 points in the test, which qualified Waibara to run on Narc-Kenya ticket alongside 15 other candidates.

Ondieki encountered legal technicalities when he attempted to produce Parliamentary Hansard Report to prove Waibara was a regular contributor in debates in the House and could express himself in English and Kiswahili. Hearing continues.