The Nation (Nairobi)
Sam Kiplagat
3 November 2009
Nairobi — An appeal filed by the wife of Rwandan fugitive Felicien Kabuga will proceed without notifying him.
Justice Philip Tunoi allowed the application for the case to proceed without notifying the fugitive and Kenya Trust Company, the managers of his properties in Kenya.
The judge was told Mr Kabuga and the company cannot be traced for them to be notified on the appeal. The appeal has been filed by Kabuga's wife Josephine Mukazitoni.
She was dissatisfied by a decision of the High Court to freeze his properties until a case filed by the Kenya Government had been heard and determined.
She was of the opinion that Mr Justice Muga Apondi erred in extending an order to freeze his assets in Nairobi yet Kenyan courts do not have authority to issue such orders.
While freezing the assets in July, Justice Apondi said that being a UN member, Kenya was under obligation to comply with a request from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), to help in tracing Mr Kabuga.
She had made an application for the property she co-owns with her husband to be unfrozen, saying Kenya had no legal right to seek a block on the family's assets.
This was after the properties were frozen temporarily last year following an application by the state.
A team of investigators tracing the fugitive discovered that Mr Kabuga was receiving Sh290,000 every three months from the property.
They suspect that the money was assisting the fugitive evade arrest. The properties in Nairobi are known as Spanish Villas and are situated in Nairobi.
The money, said the State Law Office, was usually wired by the property managers to the couple's account in Belgium.Mr Justice Apondi directed that the money be deposited with the High Court registrar for preservation.
The UN has been offered a US$5 million (Sh375 million) reward for information leading to his capture.
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