A Nairobi court on Wednesday, December 8 ordered the police to investigate claims by Jubilee Party campaign financier Mary Wanbui Mungai that she is ill in her quest to bar the police from arresting her.
Appearing before a Nairobi Anti-Corruption Court, Wambui said that she has been ill for some time and her doctors had advised her to take bed rest.
She urged the court to lift the warrant of arrest issued against her to allow her to recover from her illness before presenting herself to the police.
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Wambui and her daughter Purity Njoki Mungai are wanted by the police to answer charges relating to failure to pay taxes between 2014 and 2020 through their company, Purma Holding.
The businesswoman and her daughter were first summoned by the Kenya Revenue Authority in June to shed light on the alleged tax evasion claims but they failed to appear before the taxman. The two also failed to honour a summon by KRA that was set for December 3.
Through her lawyers, Wambui claimed that at the time of the summon, she was ill and it was her daughter Purity who was her caregiver.
“Ms Mungai is currently unwell and bedridden. She was attended to at Kiambu Level Five hospital on December 4 and was given five days bed rest,” their lawyer said.
The court, however, denied her plea noting that the medical records produced to support her claims were questionable.
“The court is unable to believe that she was admitted to Nairobi Hospital. Documents presented to court shows that she sought medical attention on December 4, 2021, at Kiambu Level 5 Hospital where she got five days of rest. These were two days before the summons was presented in court,” Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Felix Kombo said.
The magistrate also questioned why her medical records were not presented in court before the warrant of arrest was issued.
“I have noted that there is a clear lack of honesty on Mungai and Njoki. The documents presented to court cannot be believed and even if they were to be believed, they do not render a picture of what is preventing the accused persons from attending court,” the magistrate added.
Wambui is wanted by the authorities for failing to render taxes worth Ksh2.2 billion for supplying various government departments with various products including cereals, military uniforms and boots among others.
