Okemo, Gichuru appear in court for extradition case

Nambale MP Chris Okemo and former Kenya Power and Lighting Company managing director Samuel Gichuru were on Monday spared the humiliation of being hounded into a police station after they presented themselves in court following an application by the Director of Public Prosecution seeking their warrant of arrest.

In effect, the DPP through state counsel Mungai Warui withdrew the application to have the two arrested and detained after they reached an agreement that they present themselves to court, and requested that the court proceed with committal of the two.

This signaled the start of the extradition process for Mr Okemo and Mr Gichuru to the United Kingdom to face criminal charges of money laundering and corruption.

In the application to have the two extradited to the UK, Mr Warui told the court that the DPP has received sufficient evidence from the Island of Jersey to warrant him pursue section 77 of the extradition Act to have the two suspects tried in the UK.

“The DPP has confirmed that the alleged offences committed by the suspects are extraditable. We request that the court proceed with their committal as provided under Chapter 77 laws of Kenya,” said Mr Warui.

He said that under Section 7(1) of the Commonwealth Extradition Act, it is the Attorney General who can authorize extradition of a suspect to another country but the new Constitution has conferred the powers to the DPP’s office hence the reason why Mr Keriako Tobiko signed the application.

He stated that the government has no objection to the request for surrender of Mr Okemo and Mr Gichuru by a Jersey court in the UK, and wants the court’s authority to proceed with their extradition.

Mr Tobiko attached a letter from the Attorney General for Jersey Island, Timothy Le Cocq requesting for the extradition of Mr Okemo and Mr Gichuru.

In the letter, Mr Le Cocq said that he had dispatched a bundle of documents to the DPP comprising the arrest warrants from the UK, proposed indictment and a case summary in the form of a sworn affidavit by a detective handling the case.

It also incorporated sworn evidence constituting a prima facie case against the two.

In response to the application, the two through their lawyer Fred Ngatia said they have always been faithful to court summons and did not see the need of a warrant of arrest, terming the application unreasonable and a breach of their Constitutional rights.

Principle magistrate Grace Macharia released them on a cash bail of Sh1 million each and ordered that they deposit their passports with the courts until the extradition process is heard and determined.

She also ordered them to present their preliminary objection to the request for their extradition when the application comes up for hearing on August 4.

In their preliminary objection of the DPP’s application, Mr Okemo and Mr Gichuru argue that they have already filed a petition in the High Court seeking orders to stop commencement of the extradition proceedings.

They also want a declaration that no fair trial can take place within the peculiar court systems operated by the Island of Jersey, and that the issue can only be decided in the constitutional petition in the High Court and not any other court.

The two oppose the application on grounds that the absence of a written authority under the hand of the Attorney General as statutorily required make the proceedings invalid under the law.

As to the extent that the Commonwealth Countries Extradition Act authorized a person to be arrested for an indefinite period, they argued that the sections of the Act are unconstitutional, null and void.

Mr Okemo and Mr Gichuru are wanted in the UK after a warrant by the Chief Justice of the Island of Jersey in April who accuses them of money laundering and corruption. They are alleged to have benefited from kickbacks from companies active in the energy sector during the Moi regime.

The MP faces 15 counts of money laundering and misconduct in public office and could face upto 14 years if found guilty of the offences allegedly committed between 1998 and 2002. He has denied all the offences.

Mr Gichuru faces 40 counts of money laundering, fraud and misconduct in public office which also attracts a possible jail term of 14 years if found guilty.

An alert issued by Interpol described the former Energy and Finance minister as an “accomplice” and the former KPLC boss as a “fugitive”.

The allegations against the two relate to transactions done between 1986 and 2002.