Jillo Kadida
23 April 2008
Nairobi — A High Court judge has disqualified himself from hearing a Sh96 million corruption case against Agriculture minister William Ruto.
Mr Justice Joseph Nyamu yesterday said he is not ready to proceed with the matter because of personal reasons.
As a result, the case was referred to Chief Justice Evan Gicheru,
who will now have to get secure more judge to form a three-judge bench.
The case was to be heard by judges Nyamu, Roselyne Wendoh and George Dulu.
Mr Ruto and seven others are accused of obtaining Sh96 million by pretence from finance manager Kenya Pipeline Company Limited Hellen Njue.
The eight are said to have claimed that they were in a position to sell 1.745 hectares of land situated in Ngong area and which belongs to the Government.
Those charged together with the minister are Joshua Kulei, Sammy Mwaita, Sovereign Group Limited, Berke Commercial Agencies, Priority Limited, Celtic Multsystems and Somog Limited.
However, the case has never taken off because Mr Ruto filed a constitutional application saying the charge amounts to violation of his fundamental rights.
In his application, he wants the High Court to determine whether a commercial land transaction involving Government land for which the titles were issued under the hand of the President can be a criminal offence.
He further wants the court to determine whether the accusations against him and the particulars provided in the charge sheet are sufficiently and lawfully defined as an offence.
Mr Ruto also wants the constitutional court to determine whether he is entitled to any compensation from the Government for damages arising out of the State's violation of his rights.
He believes that his prosecution is an abuse of court process as it was not initiated within reasonable time.
He also sought for orders to end the proceedings at the lower court and have the magistrate stopped from dealing with that particular case.
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