Kimunya's fraud case postponed pending judgement of a similar case at the High Court

NAIROBI: The hearing of a case in which former Cabinet minister Amos Kimunya is charged with abuse of office by fraudulent disposal of public property was yesterday adjourned till March 19.

The case was scheduled for hearing before the Senior Principal Magistrate Peter Ndwiga but could not proceed because the defense said they are waiting for a judgement in another related matter before High court on March 4.

Kimunya's Lawyer Mwaniniki Gathoka requested for an adjournment yesterday pending that judgement before Judge Weldon Korir.

"I am sure that judgement will determine whether this proceedings will continue," he said.

Mwaniki added that the pending judgement touches on the matter that was to be heard yesterday. He added that the defense was ambushed by the prosecution in the order of the witnesses.

"We were informed that the number of witnesses to be heard today was three but today it is only one who is available in court," he said.

The prosecution replied that the order of the witnesses will be reviewed. They told the defense that it is their responsibility to read the order of the witnesses in the statements they were supplied with.

They said that twelve witnesses are expected to testify in the case. Kimunya is jointly charged with Lilian Wangira Njenga, a former Director of Land Adjudication and Settlement, and Jughae Wainaina, chairman of Midlands Ltd, a company associated with the former minister.

They are accused of fraudulently disposing off public property worth over Sh60 million during Kimunya's tenure as Lands minister.

The three have denied seven counts of abuse of office, failing to disclose a private interest to one's principal and fraudulent disposal of public property.

On July 14, 2014 Judge Korir dismissed application by Midlands Ltd seeking to stop criminal proceedings against Kimunya.

The judge said that the case that has been presented in court will continue on priority basis.

Midlands Limited through its lawyer Tom Macharia went to court seeking to have the criminal trial against the former Kipipiri MP thrown out on grounds that the proceedings are illegal.

The company had sued the Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko, The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Chief Magistrate's Court in a matter that was before the High Court.

Midlands Limited is a food processing firm involved in the controversial allocation of a Sh60 Million piece of land that led to criminal charges against Kimunya.

The firm believes the court proceedings are meant to threaten and coerce the company to surrender the land which, the court heard, was lawfully allocated. Kimunya is out on a cash bail of Sh1 million. The case will be mentioned on March 19.