George Muchai: Francis Atwoli made Sh7m from land sale

Kabete MP George Muchai (left) with his lawyer John Khaminwa at the High Court in Milimani on October 24, 2014. PHOTO | PAUL WAWERU |

What you need to know:

  • Mr Muchai has made damning allegations in court papers about the controversial sale of Cotu land in Mombasa.
  • Investigations into the sale have been concluded and the file passed to Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko.

The leadership battle pitting Cotu secretary-general Francis Atwoli and his deputy, Kabete MP George Muchai, has now moved to the High Court.

Mr Muchai, whose removal as Mr Atwoli’s deputy was rejected by the Registrar of Trade Unions, has made damning allegations in court papers about the controversial sale of Cotu land in Mombasa.

He alleges that the secretary-general, chairman and treasurer of Cotu received Sh7 million from the land sale.

Mr Muchai also says in his papers that besides Mr Atwoli acknowledging receiving the cash, documents shown to him by a detective interrogating him show that a Mercedes Benz and a Toyota Prado were bought with proceeds from the sale of the Cotu property.

Mr Muchai, who had been summoned to record a statement with the DCI, said he discovered that his name had been included as a member of a committee formed to sell the land.

He told police he was not part of the committee and did not participate in the transaction.

The MP, who claims hired goons had been stationed at Cotu headquarters to deny him access to his office, says in the court papers that his problems started when he “declined a request to cover-up for Mr Atwoli during investigations into the sale of a parcel of land in Mombasa ordered by the Labour Cabinet Secretary Samuel Kazungu Kambi on April 17, 2014”.

Investigations into the sale have been concluded and the file passed to Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko.

Mr Muchai’s case was certified as urgent by Justice David Onyancha who directed lawyer John Khaminwa to serve the suit papers on Mr Atwoli, Cotu chairman Rajab Mwondi and board members Nelson Mwaniki and Isaiah Kubai, who have been named as defendants.

The judge directed the case to be heard on Wednesday.

Justice Onyancha, however, declined to grant temporary orders blocking Mr Atwoli and executive officials of Cotu from holding meetings to discuss Mr Muchai’s conduct.

The deputy secretary-general had urged the court to stop the defendants from discussing, publishing or writing minutes about his conduct saying “unless stopped they will defame me”.