Connect with us

Courts

Lawyers anticipate windfall as poll losers head to courts

Published

on

By Judith Gicobi

Lawyers are closely monitoring the recent election results and are prepared to take instructions from parties disputing the outcome.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) paid attorneys up to Sh202 million to represent the commission in court during the last general elections.

The presidential election petition filed at the Supreme Court by Raila Odinga, which contested President Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory, churned up a considerable sum of money.

The sum represented a decrease from the Sh390 million spent on 14 law firms to conduct the appeal for the 2013 presidential election at the Supreme Court.

Then, throughout the protracted hearing of the case, top attorneys were paid between Sh25 million and Sh40 million to represent the electoral board and its chairman.

The number of election petitions is expected to increase based on the pattern in the previous three general elections.

In 2013, 188 complaints were filed contesting various elective seats, while 388 election petitions were filed in courts around the nation for the 2017 elections.

To contest a presidential election, a petitioner must submit Sh1 million as cost security and another Sh500,000 to file the petition; to contest an MP election, the petitioner must submit Sh500,000 to the court.

A respondent in instances filed contesting election results is the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). Therefore, the electoral body is compelled to spend millions on hiring attorneys to represent it in the cases.

The commission has spent Sh2.6 billion on legal fees over the last four years.

The multi-billion shilling tender for the provision of ballots to be used in the elections were some of the cases facing the electoral body.

Election petitions are meant to be finalized within six months, but some have taken longer due to multiple applications, which has increased the expenditures involved.

Courts

‘DJ Brownskin shared clip of dying wife with girlfriend living abroad, who snitched on him’ – DCI

Published

on

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has discovered that DJ Brownskin, also known as Michael Macharia Njiiri, sent his girlfriend who lives overseas the video of his dying wife as soon as she passed away.

After his detention, the girlfriend allegedly made a statement, giving the video to a local blogger who then made it public. According to the DCI.

“Detectives have since established that after recording the ordeal, the suspect sent the video to his other girlfriend living abroad before the girlfriend went public with the information through the blogger,” DCI said.

In a recording that was made public on April 1 by a well-known blogger, nine months after the wife Sharon Njeri was buried, DJ Brownskin watched as she carelessly poured poison into a cup and drank it.

She then sat down on a couch and dialed her two kids to tell them she was about to die. The two children’s mother fell and passed away shortly after. On August 6, 2023, she was laid to rest in her parents’ house in Koimbe Weithaga village, Murang’a County.

The DCI claims that Brownskin has been on the run ever since he refused to comply with a police summons to give a statement on the death of his wife.

His capture was made on Thursday night by detectives working out of Kasarani police station.

“The DJ had been summoned by detectives to shed more light into the death of his wife Sharon Njeri, 33, who ingested poison as he recorded on a device on the night of July 29 and 30, last year,” DCI stated.

“Efforts to summon the suspect to shed more light into the incident proved futile, as he remained elusive prompting detectives to launch a manhunt leading to his arrest on Madaraka Day, moments past midnight. The suspect is currently being held at Kasarani police as detectives gather more information from witnesses, to build a strong case against the suspect.”

He will be charged with the offence of aiding suicide and failing to prevent the same contrary to Section 225 (C) of the Penal Code.

Continue Reading

Courts

Waititu fails to appear in court over reports he collapsed at home

Published

on

By Wanja Waweru

Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu fell on Sunday at his house and was taken to the hospital, according to information provided to a Nairobi court.

Waititu was admitted to the hospital, and lawyer John Swaka informed Magistrate Thomas Nzioki that Waititu could not be present in court for his hearing.

“We are not ready to proceed… I was informed that he collapsed yesterday and was rushed to Aga Khan where he is admitted,” Swaka said.

Swaka added that Susan Wangari, Waititu’s wife, was with him in the hospital and was unable to travel to court.

“Therefore, we will not be able to proceed with the hearing today,” he said.

The magistrate said that no medical records had been given to him.

Swaka claimed to have learned the details this morning, but he would make the records available as soon as possible.

The case was continued for tomorrow, when Swaka is anticipated to provide the medical records proving his client’s hospitalization.

Continue Reading

Courts

Kabete police investigate mysterious death of 39-year-old man

Published

on

By Wanja Waweru

Police in the Nairobi region’s Kabete, Dagoretti sub-county, have started an inquiry into the unsolved death of a 39-year-old man.

According to a police record that this reporter was able to see, Mr. David Kaime Ngamau vomited before passing away while his friends and family hurried to the hospital.

“It was reported by one Thomas Gachuru Nganda, a resident of Matini that at about 1100 hours today, he learnt that his nephew David Kaime Ngamau aged 39 years was unwell as he had vomited and was unresponsive in his house,” the police report reads in part.

Mr. Nganda then hurried to the home and requested help from the neighbors to rush Mr. Ngamau to a local hospital, which was later identified as St. Theresa Hospital in Kikuyu, Kiambu County, where he was pronounced dead.

Officers from the station arrived at the scene quickly and performed crucial tasks, including taking pictures of the deceased’s home to record it.

In preparation for an autopsy, the deceased’s body is being held in the Kikuyu Pentecostal Church of Eastern Africa (PCEA) morgue.

People are increasingly dying in odd ways, according to reports in the city.

Continue Reading

Trending