BY SAM ALFAN.
The High Court has summoned Inspector General Joseph Koome and Attorney General Justin Muturi among others to shed light on investigations against a city lawyer who filed an insolvency petition against Mumias Sugar Company.
Justice Josephine Mong’are also barred the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the Director of Public Investigations from arresting and charging lawyer Jackline Kimeto over documents she has filed over the Mumias Sugar case, pending the determination of the case.
The officials are expected to appear in court on June 26.
Kimeto moved to court arguing that the police issued summons for her to appear before the DCI or face arrest.
The lawyer said the state of events has caused a lot of anxiety upon her and now fears to attend to the said court matters currently before the High Court due to impending arbitrary arrests that are being conducted by known DCI officers.
“Unless this Court urgently hears and grants the reliefs prayed for herein, my Fundamental Human and Constitutional Rights to a Fair Hearing and the right to access this court will continue to be infringed upon and they will consequently be exposed to malicious and arbitrary unlawful arrest and detention and false imprisonment by police and to the detriment of her Right to pursue their rightful claims before the Courts of the Republic of Kenya in respect of Mumias Sugar Company Limited,” pleaded the lawyer.
She told the court that office of DCI has been weaponized by parties yet to be determined to intimidate her from pursuing her claim in the matter.
She said she received an unsigned and undated Summons from the DCI from a police officer identified as A. SHURIA.
The summons required her to appear before the said officer at the DCI Headquarters Block B Office No. 65, situated at Mazingira House on the 13th of June 2023.According to the said summons, the said officer was making an enquiry into alleged offence of ‘Conspiracy to defraud contrary to Section 317 of the Penal Code’. Apart from this, no other particulars have been provided.
She further told the court the summons further went on to ask her to come with all documents in support of her claim against Mumias Sugar Company Limited before the court.
Also sought are any evidence on gross misconduct of Judicial officers in handling of the matter before the Judicial Service Commission.
The summons further threatened her with prosecution if she failed to comply with the summons. Even though she had honored the DCI summons, it has become difficult to surrender the documents requested for as they are protected and privileged.
“As a result of this unwarranted and arbitrary threats to prosecution and arrest, she is at risk of being prosecuted arbitrarily for unspecified offenses that are being brought maliciously by the Respondents and the instigation of parties that remain unknown,” lawyer Kimeto told the court.
She alleged she herself was threatened by a party to the proceedings on the 18 of February, 2022 and she filed a criminal complaint at Kilimani Police Station under OB No. 15/02/2022. No action has been taken against the perpetrators to date.
“It is clear that parties to the proceedings who have hitherto failed to scuttle these insolvency proceedings are using the machinery of the state unlawfully influencing IG and DCI to settle personal scores and to intimidate the Petitioner from pursuing its rightful claim in the insolvency proceedings before this court,” she says in her court documents.
In her court papers, she said on the 15th of June, 2023, court issued directions to her to file and exchange submissions in support of her application for the appointment of a new administrator together with orders for accounts from KCB Bank and Venkata Ramana Rao.
She said it will be difficult to comply with the direction of the court if her records are curtailed by affected parties through extrajudicial means.
Lawyer Kimeto added that this as a collateral attack on her and the application to appoint a new administrator as well as to call KCB Bank and Ramana Rao to account for their activities at Mumias Sugar company that is currently before this court.
“On the 20 of March, 2019, 1 filed Milimani Insolvency Petition No. 1004 of 2019 with a view to enforcing my money decrees and for the recovery of the sum of Sh. 76,452,323 plus interest against Mumias Sugar Company Limited,” lawyer Kimeto told the court.
On the 19th of November, 2021, the Insolvency Court placed Mumias Sugar Company Limited under court supervised insolvency and appointed RAO as administrator of the company.
She adds that Rao’s appointment was subsequently terminated by the court on the 14th of April, 2022 for gross misconduct as an insolvency practitioner, corruption and failure to comply with the Insolvency Act of 2015 and the directions of the court, vide Justice Alfred Mabeya.
Rao together with one other creditor, KCB Kenya Limited challenged the decision of the insolvency court and filed Civil appeal No. E274 and E266 of 2022 which appeal is currently before the court of appeal.
