Former CS Ngilu cleared over Ksh8bn Karen land saga

By KBC Reporter

The Court of Appeal has terminated Ksh 8 billion Karen land saga against former Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu.

The court declared that the case against Ngilu was unconstitutional and directed the Director of Public Prosecution to amend the charge sheet to read only other six suspects who had been charged alongside the former CS.

Ngilu was in June 19th 2016 alongside six other suspects been charged with obstructing commission officials from investigating the 134 acre Karen land scandal.

Her lawyer Paul Muite presented a court of appeal order that cleared her from the case.

He told senior principal magistrate Lawrence Mugambi that it is only his client who was removed from the case.

Mugambi directed the DPP to amend the charge sheet and expunge Ngilu’s name from the charges.

Mrs Ngilu had been accused of obstructing investigations into the 134-acre Karen land saga by directing Lands ministry officials not to release documents to its investigators or even record any statements regarding the matter.

Elsewhere, the high court has ordered immediate opening of Party of National Unit (PNU) bank accounts that were frozen by the banking fraud unit.

Justice George Odunga directed that the accounts be opened within three days.

PNU through lawyer Okongo Omogeni told the court that the action by banking fraud unit had paralyzed the party’s operations.

And, two women accused of failing to report terror related activities have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The women who were arrested in Nyeri are accused of willfully failing to report that a young man known to them had joined Al Shabaab terror group in Somalia.

Eunice Wanjiku Wachira and Caroline Muthoni Mwangi appeared before principal magistrate Charity Oluoch who released them on a 100,000 shillings cash bail each.