Former Minister used woorker to seek damages

By Wainaina Ndung'u 

A former minister was accused by the High Court of having his employee jailed so that he could claim insurance compensation on his car.

A ten-minute hearing was all it took a Nyeri High Court to free former minister Mutahi Kagwe’s chef, who doubled as a gardener and housekeeper.

He has been serving a four-year jail term for allegedly crashing Kagwe’s brand new Sh3 million Toyota double cabin in 2010.

Leonard Wachira Mugo, 28, smiled broadly when Nyeri’s Justice James Wakiaga set him free two years into his non-optional jail term for wrecking the former Communications minister’s truck in a road accident.

Mugo had appeared before the court to argue his appeal after he was jailed for four years without an option of a fine by Nyeri Senior Principal Magistrate Joshua Kiarie in July last year.

The former chef told Justice Wakiaga that the trial court disregarded his defence that he had been wrongly charged with theft when he had been allowed to use his employer’s car by the former minister’s oldest son, Kagwe Mutahi.

INSURANCE COMPENSATION

He claimed he had specifically been prosecuted so that the former minister could claim insurance compensation for the vehicle that had been written off after the accident at Kianyaga in Gichugu District, Kirinyaga County.

“I have taken into account the appellant’s submissions and agree this was a case of abuse of the court process...if he had been a thief, he would not have called the owner of the motor vehicle to say he had an accident,” said Justice Wakiaga.

The appeal State Counsel Lucy Maundu conceded the appeal, saying the former chef had raised pertinent issues. The judge also observed Mugo had already been charged with a traffic offence.