Nakuru West Member of Parliament Samuel Arama and lawyer have been released on Sh2 million bond with a surety of a similar amount.
Arama was freed on Tuesday alongside lawyer Kennedy Onkoba by Milimani Antii-Corruption Court Chief Magistrate Douglas Ogot.
“There were no compelling reasons given by the prosecution to warrant accused persons denied bail” Ruled Ogoti.
They were granted the alternative of Sh1 million cash bail each ahead of the pre-trial hearing on July 9.
The two were charged with conspiracy to defraud a businessman of his land in Nakuru town by having the property secretly transferred to the politician by a fake seller for Sh60million.
Arama and Onkoba who appeared before Nairobi Anti-Corruption Chief Magistrate Douglas Ogoti, denied the charges and were remanded overnight at the Kileleshwa police station pending ruling on their bail application.
Arama and Onkoba were jointly charged with conspiracy to defraud Ahmed Muhammad Nisar of his plot in Nakuru municipality by pretending they were capable of effecting the transfer of the property to the politician.
The offence, in which the duo purported to insert entries in the Nakuru Lands Office white card register records, is alleged to have been committed between August 3 and 11, 2015.
Arama faced a second count of unlawfully drawing a land sale agreement in respect of the contested plot-Nakuru Municipality Block 6/95-pretending it had been signed by Yusufu Mustaphah Ratemo.
The third count alleged that the politician presented the land sale agreement to Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) investigators Agosta Mecca and Vera Nyambok, with the intention to deceive them that Ratemo was the genuine seller of the property. This offence was allegedly committed at the EACC offices at Shiv Plaza in Nakuru Town on February 9, 2016.
Arama faced a fourth count of unlawfully securing a certificate of lease and registration of transfer of the property by falsely claiming to have purchased the land from Ratemo on August 3, 2015. He is alleged to have presented suspect documents to the offices of the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development in Nakuru Town on August 7, 2015.
The fifth count alleged that Arama fraudulently secured the registration of certificate of ownership of the property between August 7 and 11, 2015 at the Lands offices in Nakuru town.
Arama was accused of misleading the EACC Investigators, Mecca and Nyambok, who were investigating the alleged illegal acquisition of the land, by recording a statement claiming he had legitimately purchased the property for Sh60million from Ratemo.
Several Kisii region members of Parliament joined him for solidity. Among them Kisii Senator Okongo Omugen,MP Onyoka among others.
