Mwiraria charged over Anglo Leasing from Karen Hospital

Former Finance Minister David Mwiraria was Monday finally charged over the Anglo Leasing scam from Karen Hospital and pleaded not guilty to abuse of office accusations.

Mr Mwiraria has failed to appear in court a number of occasions since March 4 when seven ex-government officials were charged in connection with a multimillion-billion corruption scam, prompting the court to issue an arrest warrant against him.

Mr Mwiraria was released on a personal bond of Sh2 million and he is expected in court in February and March. The plea hearing was held in camera in Mwiraria’s hospital room at Karen Hospital, before Magistrate Felix Kombo.

Mr Mwiraria is being pursued abuse of office and conspiracy to defraud the government Sh6.5 billion in the infamous Anglo-Leasing scandal — which were contracts for security equipment, ranging from tamper-proof passports and forensic laboratories, to helicopters and satellite services with some awarded to fictitious companies.

It is alleged that the scam began in the late 1990s under the presidency of Daniel arap Moi and continued under his successor Mwai Kibaki, who came to power in 2002.

READ: Mwiraria in hospital as Anglo Leasing suspects are charged

On Monday, Mr Mwiraria’s lawyer Kioko Kilukumi said his client, who has stage four cancer, had visible difficulties during the proceedings, and had to have the charges against him repeated several times before he could understand them well enough to take a plea.

“The trial court conducted proceedings with a lot of dignity, and my client’s poor health was noted by the magistrate. I am glad that the magistrate was patient with him,” said Kilukumi.

Public Prosecutor Nicholas Mutuko, who was present during the proceedings, said that Mr Mwiraria had pleaded not guilty to all seven counts facing him.

“We had two charge files against him, File ACC2/2015 and ACC4/2015, which had two counts and five counts respectively. He was released on a personal bond of Sh1 million on each file, bringing the total bond to Sh2 million,” said Mutuko.

This means that should Mr Mwiraria fail to show up in court on the days of his hearing, he will lose the Sh2 million.

Mr Mwiraria was unable to take his plea earlier alongside his co-accused, former provincial administration Permanent Secretary Dave Mwangi, former Treasury head of debt management David Onyonka and former Finance Permanent Secretary Joseph Magari.

Mr Mwiraria fell sick and was hospitalised on March 18 this year, the very date that his co-accused took their pleas in a Nairobi court. He resigned as Finance Minister in 2006 after being implicated in what was known as ‘Githongo Report’ by then Kibaki’s adviser, John Githongo.