Former Majority Leader of the National Assembly Amos Kimunya has been freed on a cash bail of Ksh 700,000 by the Nairobi court as he prepares to defend himself in the reinstated corruption case that involves land fraud.
Milimani Chief Magistrate Lawrence Mugambi released Kimunya and his two co-accused persons Lilian Wangiri and Junghae Wainaina after they appeared before him following a High Court order that overturned their acquittal in the corruption case two years ago.
Wangiri and Wainaina were granted Ksh1M each. The two face eight counts, while Kimunya has seven counts.
Mugambi directed the three accused persons to appear before Senior Principal Magistrate Peter Ooko on October 31, 2022, for directions on how they tender their defence.
This is after he rejected their bid to have the former trial magistrate Felix Kombo continue handling the matter.
"In this case, Kombo (former trial)made his decision, and the High court reversed after finding it was improper or unfair. My view is that this matter should be tried before another court. I hereby appoint magistrate Ooko to hear and determine this case, " Mugambi said.
He, however, granted the defence two weeks to peruse Justice Esther Maina's decision to reverse the acquittal before they appear before the new trial magistrate for defence hearing.
Kimunya informed the court he needed time to acquaint himself with the judgment so that he can put a substantive defence as he pointed at the possibility of lodging an appeal against the High Court's decision to restore the trial.
"The accused persons were earlier acquitted under section 210 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC). It came as a surprise that the High Court reversed the decision and the accused persons are in shock. They need time to digest the judgment, " defence lawyers led by Daniel Musyoka said.
While seeking more time to prepare their defence, the three accused persons stated that since Justice Maina only read the last paragraph of her judgment, they were unaware of the reasons for her decision and received a copy of the judgment Tuesday morning.
On Thursday last week, Justice Maina set aside former trial magistrate Felix Kombo's decision and ordered Kimunya and his co-accused persons be put on their defense over the corruption allegations.
"I hereby find that the appeal by the DPP has merit and is allowed. The defendants Amos Kimunya and three others to be put on their defence," Justice Maina ruled.
The Kipipiri MP was charged with allocating public land to Midlands Limited, a company associated with him.
He is said to have effected the transfer on June 30, 2005, when he served as land's minister.
He was charged alongside Wangiri, a former land adjudication and settlement director within the Land ministry, who also faced a breach of trust charge.
