A court has summoned former Tetu MP Ndung'u Gethenji to answer to a forgery charge in a case concerning a Sh20 billion property in Nairobi’s upmarket Kitisuru area.

The summons on Monday, by Milimani Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku, came 16 days after Mr Gethenji was cleared over a similar charge by the High Court.

Ms Mutuku asked the politician to appear in court on December 1 to plead to a charge of forging minutes of an annual general meeting of Kihingo Village Waridi Gardens Management One Limited.

On November 2, Justice David Majanja ruled that the forgery allegation by some shareholders of the posh estate were not proven and therefore could not stand.

The allegation was raised in a counterclaim to a suit Mr Gethenji filed to stop the implementation of resolutions of the AGM held on April 13, 2019.


Previous ruling
The shareholders had prayed for Mr Gethenji and another director, Julius Chacha Mabanga, to be found guilty of forging minutes on the management of the estate, which he allegedly filed at the company registry at the Attorney-General’s chambers

But in his judgement, Justice Majanja held that there was no evidence to back the accusation.

The minutes were filed by a Mr Charles Njenga but Mr Gethenji said he did not know him since he was not the company secretary.

The politician wrote to the Directorate of the Criminal Investigations (DCI), asking it to probe the matter.

While terming the forgery claim far-fetched, the judge ruled he could not bar Mr Gethenji from holding the position of a director at Kihingo, or any other public post, for 15 years.

The judge dismissed the forgery claim against the former chairman of the parliamentary Defence committee.

Quarantine
Mr Gethenji, who was released on a Sh20,000 police bond, Monday sent his lawyers Ishmael Nyaribo, Willis Otieno and Nelson Osiemo, to inform the court that he could not be present as directed by police last week.

He said he was quarantining as his relative tested positive for Covid-19.

“I urge this court and the Director of Public Prosecution to indulge Mr Gethenji for two weeks since he is on self-quarantine as per Ministry of Health guidelines,” Mr Nyaribo told the court.

Prosecuting counsel Anderson Gikunda did not oppose the plea..

Ms Mutuku allowed the request and directed the MP to turn up in court to answer to the charge that has already been filed.

Witnesses
Among those listed as witnesses in the case is the ex-MPs brother Fredrick Gitahi Gethenji, who has been battling alongside Kihingo shareholders to take Kihingo management rights from the ex-MP.

He is the developer and chair of the multi-billion estate sitting on a 42-acre parcel of land.

Last week, Senior Principal Magistrate Bernard Ochoi declined to block a contractor’s four employees from carrying out construction works at the estate.

The fear was that the four, who are charged alongside Mr Gethenji in another criminal case, scared witnesses living in the area.


But Mr Ochoi said, “There is no iota of evidence that Josiah Augo Otimo, Godfrey Ochieng Okello, Kennedy Ochieng Asewe and Shadrack Ouma Ogonji have attempted to intimidate any of the witnesses.”

Mr Ochoi allowed an objection by lawyer Otieno that the allegation by Mr Gitahi, through his lawyer Jackson Ikua, was superfluous and lacked merit.

The former MP was charged after failed attempts to settle the matter out-of-court.

rmunguti@ke.nationmedia.com

https://nation.africa/kenya/news/sh20bn-kitisuru-estate-ndung-u-gethenji-summoned-over-forgery-3023188