A Nairobi court has dismissed an application by blogger Dennis Itumbi seeking to privately prosecute Interior CS Fred Matiang’i over the Ruaraka land scandal.
Chief Magistrate Douglas Ogoti on Friday ruled that Itumbi’s application failed to meet the constitutional and statutory threshold.
Ogoti explained that exhibits presented in court by the applicant did not meet the admissibility test as stipulated in the Evidence Act.
“He didn’t explain how he accessed the information or documents in his affidavit,” ruled Ogoti.
He added: “His affidavit doesn’t contain information on whether he had permission to use the public documents and when and how he obtained them.”
Itumbi, formerly the Director of Innovation, Digital and Diaspora Communication at State House, had presented letters written by the National Treasury, Commissioner of Lands, and Ministry of Education.
“The said documents as they are do not meet the legal threshold and cannot be produced and used in court. They do not meet the admissibility test as prescribed in the Evidence Act.” Ogoti added.
Speaking on Friday, Itumbi vowed to move to the High Court to seek a review of Ogoti’s ruling.
In his application, Itumbi claimed Matiang’i oversaw the illegal payment for the 13.5-acre parcel of land which led to the loss of taxpayers’ cash amounting to Sh1.5 billion.
He added that Matiang’i initiated the process of compulsory acquisition of part of L.R No. 7879/4 situated in Ruaraka for the benefit of two government schools—Drive-In Primary School and Ruaraka High School.
Itumbi accused Matiang’i of disregarding the recommendations of a Quality and Standard team, which established that the land in which the two schools sit was public land and no compensation should be paid.
In 2018, the two companies owned by Nairobi businessman Francis Mburu were paid Sh1.5 billion by the Ministry of Education, through the National Land Commission, as compensation for the land. Matiang’i was in charge of the Education Ministry at the time.
The High Court last year ruled that the property is public land, hence the compensation was illegal.
Kenyan Trump. You cannot…
Kenyan Trump. You cannot litigate your way to Victory. Facts don’t lie. Just do your homework, before going to Court.
Somebody else needs to sue…
Somebody else needs to sue Matiangi over the Ruaraka land scam.
It’s time Kenyans started suing government officials for the crimes they have committed.
These government officials are always committing crimes and they are not taken to court.
It’s time to normalize government officials defending their criminal acts in court.
It was DP Ruto who was…
It was DP Ruto who was instigating some nonsense to get even with the super CS Matiang’i! Rotten eggs (itumbi) don’t win anything!