Former MP Sammy Mwaita charged with Sh150 million land fraud
Mwaita was ordered to deposit a bond of Sh10 million with a surety of a similar amount or a cash bail of Sh2 million.
Former Baringo Central Member of Parliament Sammy Mwaita has been charged with Sh150 million land fraud allegedly committed 24 years ago.
Mwaita, who is also a former Commissioner of Lands, faced seven counts of conspiracy to commit a felony, forgery of titles, abuse of office and giving false information to the police.
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He denied all the charges before Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Ben Mark Ekhubi.
Ekhubi ordered Mwaita to deposit a bond of Sh10 million with a surety of a similar amount or a cash bail of Sh2 million.
Mwaita is charged alongside another suspect, Brian Kiptoo Kiplagat, who did not attend court.
However, Ekhubi issued a summons to Kiplagat to attend court on August 5 to plead to three counts of conspiracy to defraud and giving false information to the police.
The charges state that on March 30, 2001, Mwaita and Kiplagat conspired to commit an offence by allegedly making a grant title of a parcel of land registered in the name of Rose Njoki with an intent to defraud her.
The parcel of land is said to measure 0.2 hectares and valued at Sh150 million, is situated along Mai Mahiu within Nairobi West.
The second charge says that on the same dates, the duo conspired to defraud Micugu Wagatharia of his parcel of land measuring 0.1 hectares valued at Sh150 million.
Mwaita is separately charged with making a title deed for two parcels of land in the name of Shaba Trustees Limited, claiming it was a genuine title properly processed and issued by the Ministry of Lands.
The former MP is further charged with fraudulently registering a parcel of land in the name of Njoki without her consent.
Similarly, he is accused of registering the parcel of Mucugu without his consent.
The DPP has further charged Mwaita with giving false information to Sergeant Nicolaus Otieno of the Lands fraud investigation unit at DCI that the two parcels of land belong to Shaba Trustees Limited. The information he knew to be false.
The charge further claims Mwaita had intended to cause Sergeant Otieno to recommend to the DPP to prosecute Njoki and Mucugu.
He allegedly gave the false information on March 17, 2020, at the DCI headquarters in Nairobi.
Kiplagat is accused of giving false information to Sergeant Otieno on March 18, 2020.
Defence lawyers opposed the prosecution of Mwaita, claiming that the issue of ownership had been determined by the High Court and the Court of Appeal, which vested the land in dispute in Shaba Trustees Limited.
The lawyers faulted the charges, claiming to be defective and a misapprehension of the law.
The magistrate heard that Mwaita is a retired civil servant who also served the public as an MP and should not be dragged to court over matters that have already been decided by the superior courts.
"The accused herein is in his 60s, enjoying his retirement, his wife too is on retirement, and it's unfortunate that he is being prosecuted for decisions taken while in office and that the court of Appeal has declared Shaba Trustees as the valid and the legal owner of the property in dispute," submitted the defense.
The magistrate also heard that there have been conservatory orders restraining the DPP from prosecuting both Mwaita and Kiplagat.
The accused blamed the DPP for overtly going behind their backs and obtaining ex parte orders lifting the conservatory orders issued by two High Court judges prohibiting the prosecution of the former MP.
The accused asked the court to release him on bond, saying he is not a flight risk, sickly, and police know his rural and city homes.
The prosecuting counsel, Njoki, opposed the argument that the charges are defective, saying," the DPP considered all the issues being raised before deciding to charge Mwaita".
"There are no orders prohibiting this court from calling upon Mwaita to answer the charges filed against him by the DPP," she submitted.
She added that she has no instructions to oppose the bond but urged the court to consider the seriousness of the offence and the value of the upmarket property.
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