5th March, 2018
The father of NASA backer and controversial businessman Jimi Wanjigi, who was expected before a Nyeri Court today, to face gun-related charges did not show up citing health concerns. Maina Wanjigi, 86, a one-time Cabinet Minister for Co-operative Development in the Moi administration, had been summoned through the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to answer charges of failing to keep safe his firearm, contrary to Section 18 (3) as read with Section 18 (4) of the Firearms Act Cap 114 laws of Kenya.
He is alleged to have committed the offence on October 17, 2017. “…failed to keep the gun in safe custody, in a safe condition and without reasonable precaution to ensure the weapon is not lost or stolen, and was not at any time available to any person not lawfully entitled to possess it,” the charge sheet read in part. The gun was among a cache recovered during a raid on his son’s home in Muthaiga in Nairobi last year. On the fateful day, Jimi Wanjigi was charged with eleven counts of being in possession of illegal firearms.