Former Kipipiri MP Amos Kimunya has lodged an appeal challenging the High Court’s decision to reverse his acquittal in the Sh60 million land fraud case.
On October 6th, High Court judge Esther Maina overturned Kimunya’s acquittal, ruling that the prosecution built a prima facie case against him and his two co-defendants Lilian Njenga, a former director of Land Adjudication and Settlement at the Lands Ministry, and businessman Junghae Wainaina.
The three had been cleared by Anti-Corruption Magistrate Felix Kombo, but the Director of Public Prosecutions filed an appeal arguing that the court erred in law by releasing them.
Kimunya is accused of fraudulently transferring 25 acres of land in Nyandarua County owned by the government to a private company linked to him on January 30th, 2005. He was then the Minister for Lands and Housing. The parcel had been set aside for the Ministry of Agriculture for seed multiplication and also acted as a farmers’ training centre.
The three were charged with abuse of office, failing to disclose private interests, and disposing of public property fraudulently. Kimunya and Njenga are alleged to have used their positions to award to Midlands Limited 25 acres of public land worth Sh60 million in Njabini.
On October 11th, Chief Magistrate Lawrence Mugambi released the three on cash bail pending their retrial. Kimunya was granted a cash bail of Sh700,000 while Njenga and Wainaina were freed on Sh1 million cash bail each.
The magistrate also transferred the file to Principal Magistrate Peter Ooko to handle the retrial.
