Former Assistant Minister Patrick Muiruri gets reprieve in child support case

By Kurian Musa and John Muthoni

KENYA: Former Assistant Minister Patrick Muiruri got a reprieve after the High Court suspended an order directing him to pay maintenance costs for a child alleged to be his.

Joyce Wanjiku lodged a case in court and Resident Magistrate ZW Gichana ordered the former MP to remit Sh6,000 per month as maintenance costs for the child.

But the former assistant minister for Production & Marketing in the Ministry of Agriculture filed an appeal against the judgment.

Through advocate Tom Wachakana, the former MP said the trial court erred in law by ordering his client to be paying the fixed monthly amount, school fees and related expenses for the child without full trial of the issues to determine marriage, relationship and paternity.

“The trial court erred by failing to comply with its own order to allow for the appellant’s DNA test to be conducted at Kenyatta National Hospital and proceeded to condemn him unheard,” Wachakana submitted.

The advocate said there was no basis for maintenance at this stage, as it would amount to abuse of the due process of the law.

Judge FK Munyi ordered a stay of execution.

“Pending the inter partes mention, a stay of execution be and is hereby granted,” the judge said.

Muiruri was the MP for Gatundu North between 1997 and 2007.

He was the first MP for the constituency after it was split from the larger Gatundu constituency.

Muiruri lost his seat to Clement Kungu Waibara in 2007.

Admission letter

Meanwhile, the High Court has ordered the principal of a secondary school to furnish the court with the school admission letter of a student to ascertain whether or not he was a minor when he was sentenced to death.

Justices Jacqueline Kamau and JO Ogola Tuesday ordered St Luke’s Secondary School’s principal to appear before the High Court in Nairobi on November 13, and to produce the admission letter for Joseph Ayunge Kimeu.

The judges found out that the man, who is now 21 years old and has spent five years in jail awaiting his day with the hangman’s noose, was 17 when he was charged with stealing a mobile phone and Sh4,000 from Pastor George Maina.