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Kisumu Governor Jack Ranguma is being accused by his maternal cousin of embezzling Sh4.5 million.
Keryne Atieno Ogutu, who is a widow, through lawyer Judy Thongori, has accused the Kisumu governor and his wife Olivia Ranguma of swindling her savings entrusted to them for real estate development since 2002.
In the papers, Atieno claims that while she was abroad, she used to send the couple the money which she claims has been embezzled.
Last week, the lawyer published a notice on a local daily to ask Governor Ranguma to attend court on November 13 to show cause why one third of his salary should not be attached.
The notice of October 29, 2015 signed by Senior Principal Magistrate at Milimani Commercial Courts, ordered Ranguma to appear in court in person on the same date.
The documents attached in the court case unmasked the battle in the top politician’s family.
Ranguma was then a Commissioner of income tax at the Kenya Revenue Authority, while his wife Olivia was a businesswoman running an air ticketing firm, EUG Freight, hence had a dollar account where Atieno reportedly remitted the cash.
Ranguma’s mother and Atieno’s father are allegedly siblings, born and bred in Gem Rae, Nyakach Constituency in Kisumu County.
In her affidavit, Atieno, who stays in Bethlehem in the USA, says she entrusted Ranguma and his wife Olivia with money that was meant to be saved for her real estate development locally while she was abroad. However, she claims that was never to be.
“I requested for release of my money for the first time on December 8, 2008, innocently believing that the money was in safe custody of the applicants as entrusted upon them,” she wrote in the affidavit.
“Olivia responded to the mail on January 13, 2009 when she informed me that they had converted my money into Kenya shillings and invested the same in shares,” adds Atieno.
She says in the affidavit that it was not until 2009 that she found out that the applicants had fraudulently embezzled her money.
“They are my relatives whom we had a very good relationship with when I was sending them the money. They have financial capacity to repay my money and in fact, Jack Ranguma is the Governor of Kisumu County,” she adds.
Judgement was passed at Milimani Law Courts on December 16, 2013, when the court ordered that Ranguma pay his cousin $43,920 (about Sh4.4 million at current exchange rate) and an extra Sh156,859 to cater for the cost of the proceedings.
Since then, however, he has reportedly not obeyed the orders and instead filed an application claiming he had not been served by the court before. Swearing an affidavit both for himself and his wife, Ranguma said they had both never been served by anyone.
“The said affidavit is equivocal as to whether I was served in person or my secretary Perez was the one served. Nevertheless, I deny that I was served as alleged in the affidavit of service or at all,” read the governor’s affidavit.
However, on March 31 this year, the court dismissed Ranguma’s application and ordered that he pay the money or else execution will be levied upon him, either through auctioneers or attachment of his salary.
