Ailing Jonah Anguka stranded: Ouko ghost returns to haunt former DC

Former Nakuru District Commissioner Jonah Anguka is a man in dark times and deep trouble.

Once an influential figure who called the shots in the Kanu government where the provincial administration was largely an extension of the presidency, his sorry state is testament to the fact that power is temporary.

It could be the State secrets he carries from the 1990s, or the innocent people he might have frustrated in the line of duty, but one thing is clear: the ghosts of the past have returned to haunt him.

The former powerful administrator has an underlying medical condition that needs examination in the United States in February, where his doctor is based. But there’s a problem. His travel documents expire in three months and efforts to apply for an electronic passport have been blocked by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) because their records claim he is a fugitive with a pending criminal matter: the 1990 murder of Foreign Affairs minister Robert Ouko.

Mr Anguka was one of the prime suspects and, although he was charged and eventually acquitted in 1994, his life has had complications ever since. On July 7, the DCI declined to clear him to process a new passport, citing a “pending murder investigation”, which has left his travel plans in limbo.

The blacklisting means he is still a person of interest, yet he was cleared by the courts for lack of evidence 26 years ago. The State did not appeal the judgment and it’s shocking that the Ouko murder file remains open. Are there people in government still after him? Is there new evidence? Aren’t the police violating his rights? Why now? These questions have left Mr Anguka and his legal team searching for answers from the DCI.

This week, he went back to court seeking to clear his name, citing double jeopardy. After years on the run from people who “wanted to eliminate him”, he has vowed to put up a big fight and defend his rights. As the only high-profile suspect, and perhaps witness with important clues into Dr Ouko’s murder who is still alive, could he be hiding any secrets? Are detectives trying to use dirty tricks to nail him?

In February 1990, Dr Ouko’s scorched and mutilated remains were discovered near his Koru farm in a murder that shook the nation.

“That I know of my own knowledge that I was charged of murder in Criminal Case No.51 of 1993 and the matter was concluded back in 29/07/1994 and judgment was delivered by the High Court in Nairobi by Justice D.K.S Aganyanya and I was acquitted of the same murder charges,” Mr Anguka states in court documents obtained by the Nation. “I am being double jeopardised on criminal case No.51 of 1993, despite having been acquitted of the same charges in the said matter on 29/07/1994.”

According to the law, an accused person ought not to be tried a second time regarding an offence for which he has previously been acquitted or convicted. This legal explanation is from the maxim ‘nemo debet bis vexari pro ura et eadem causa’, a Latin phrase which means ‘no-one shall be tried or punished twice in regards to the same event’. This provides the legal protection against ‘double jeopardy’, which gives right to the defence of ‘autrefois convict’ or ‘autrefois acquit,’ simply meaning formerly acquitted.

“That the applicant cannot acquire a new electronic passport in accordance with government directives since he has not been cleared by the respondent (DCI) of the said charges while his current passport is on the last three months of expiring,” states one of the court documents signed by his lawyer Kenneth Amondi.

He requests the court to allow his client urgent clearance to allow him apply for a new passport so that he can seek medication in the US. One of the complications in his case is the fact that after his acquittal in 1994, he was granted asylum in the US, where he acquired citizenship. This meant that he denounced the Kenyan passport as the old Constitution had no provisions for dual citizenship.

After the promulgation of the Constitution in 2010, which introduced dual citizenship, he sought to reclaim his Kenyan citizenship. But when he applied for a police clearance certificate so he could apply for a new passport, they claimed he was ineligible due to the “pending murder investigation”.

He has made unsuccessful attempts to clear his name, despite a February 10 letter from the Senior Deputy Registrar of the High Court, which indicated that the matter had been concluded.

Mr Anguka is now asking the court to order the DCI to clear his name and declare the pending murder case unconstitutional. He is also seeking compensation for the alleged violation of his constitutional rights.

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