Ruto says not to blame for Ngong land
Agriculture minister William Ruto has said he is not to blame for acquiring parcels of land at Ngong Forest 14 years ago.
Challenging a Sh96 million fraud case brought against him, Mr Ruto added that he was a stranger in the suit since he never received any money from Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) allegedly from the sale of the land.
The Eldoret North MP, a company associated with him, Berke Commercial Agencies, a former aide of retired President Daniel Moi, Joshua Kulei and two other companies have been sued for falsely obtaining money from KPC in 2001.
Mr Ruto was charged with receiving Sh9.9 million from Hellen Njue, then the financial manager of KPC saying that he was in a position to sell 1.745 hectares of land which belonged to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources at Ngong Forest.
He is alleged to have further received another 57.8 million for the sale of two parcels and another 28 million for a parcel of land in the same forest.
Mr Kulei on his part faces charges of obtaining Sh58 million from KPC between August 6 and September 6 2001.
And Mr Mwaita, the Baringo Central MP is charged with three counts of abuse of office after he allegedly consented to the transfer of the parcels before they were degazetted.
During the hearing Tuesday, Mr Ruto, through lawyer Katwa Kigen, said he cannot be taken responsible for actions of the executive then. According to him, the parcels of land were acquired in 1995 after complying with all the requirements.
He said that actions included allotment letters, paying for premiums and stamps duty and also paying for land rates and rent as required by law.
The lawyer said that the then Commissioner of Lands Wilson Gachanja had wanted to sell the parcels to KPC in 1995 but the decision was rescinded by the head of Civil Service then.
While arguing that the case was brought against him to embarrass him, Mr Ruto added that the complainant should have been the registrar of titles and not the Attorney General. This, he said, was because the validity of the title deeds had not been questioned.
Defending his client, Mr Kigen said that if the said money was ever paid, the same was sent to an account belonging to Kenya Times Media Trust for the purpose of settling a debt with Trans-National Bank.
“He never received any money. If at all, we should be ones accusing the government for falsely obtaining money from our clients since they allowed him to pay monies to meet requirements of acquiring a title deed,” said Mr Kigen.
Mr Ruto and his co-accused were first charged in court in 2004 but they stopped the hearing pending the constitutional application.
The Agriculture minister is challenging the fraud charges against him and he wants the court to determine whether a commercial transaction involving public land and for which titles were issued with the blessings of a head of state, can attract criminal sanctions.
In his application, the minister is also seeking for a declaration that the criminal charge against him is an abuse of court process as it was not initiated within reasonable time, and should be dismissed.
He also wants the court to determine whether his being dragged to court has violated his constitutional rights. The hearing continues on Wednesday.
