Former MP denies forgery charges in Sh20bn family feud
What you need to know:
- The accused had written to the DPP seeking to have the decision to charge him reviewed.
- He denied the charge read to him virtually at the Milimani Law Courts.
A former legislator has eventually been charged with forging company minutes of the family’s Sh20billion estate in the upmarket Kitsuru area in Nairobi County.
Former Tetu MP, Mr James Ndung’u Gethenji, was charged before Milimani Law Courts Chief Magistrate Ms Martha Mutuku on December 17, 2020.
This happened even after he had written to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji on November 30, 2020 seeking to have the decision to charge him with forgery reviewed.
Mr Gethenji was however granted a cash bail of Sh20,000 after the collapse of discussions to resolve the bitter rivalry between him and his elder brother, Fredrick Gitahi Gethenji, over the control and management of Kihingo Village Waridi Gardens Estate Company.
Mr Gethenji, who has been at the helm of the company as chief executive officer from 2007, was charged with forging minutes of a purported Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on November 21, 2018 in which a Mr Chacha Mabanga was made a director.
He denied the charge read to him virtually at the Milimani Law Courts.
Mr Gethenji, represented by lawyers Willis Otieno and Ishmael Nyaribo, informed the court that he had been out on a police bond of Sh20,000 and urged to be granted similar terms.
The magistrate upheld the plea and released Mr Gethenji on a bond of Sh100,000 with an alternative cash bail of Sh20,000.
Mr Nyaribo explained to the court, his client was surprised to find that the complainant in the case is his brother, Gitahi, with whom he is battling over the control and management of the family venture.
Mr Nyaribo said the forgery charge stems from the minutes an AGM of the November 21, 2018 which never was.
Mr Nyaribo informed the court that Mr Gethenji has corresponded to the Solicitor General Mr Ken Ogetto vide a letter dated December 11, 2020 over the fraudulent minutes then requesting him to investigate how they found their way into the company registry.
Mr Nyaribo also stated in the fraudulent minutes Mr Chacha Mabanga was appointed a director, yet he had served in the same capacity since 2013.
Forgery charges
"We write to lodge our formal complaint with regard to the filing of fraudulent minutes of a meeting of this company - Kihingo Village Waridi Gardens Management One Limited - by persons unknown to us and on the e-citizen platform,” Mr Gethenji explained to Mr Ogeto.
Besides the Solicitor General, Mr Otieno has written to the DPP asking him to review his directions to have Mr Gethenji prosecuted over the forgery charges.
Mr Otieno has disclosed that a forensic experts report on the file demonstrates that the ex-MP did not forge the alleged documents and that his signature was superimposed.
The DPP has been informed that the accused first saw the alleged forged document with the lawyer of the complainant (Gitahi) in 2019.
"The criminal justice system is being abused by Gitahi using state agents whom he has roped into his evil scheme to a achieve a nefarious objective,” Mr Otieno told the DPP in correspondence dated November 30, 2020.
The DPP has been told states agents are being used to wrestle from Gethenji the control and management of the Sh5billion recreational facility known as Bustani which has various facilities including a sauna, a swimming pool and shops.
The property is managed by Kihingo Village Waridi Gardens Management One Limited where Gethenji has the chairman and CEO since 2007.
Mr Haji has been told that Gitahu recanted his withdrawal of the forgery complaint against Ndung’u since “he wanted the accused (Ndung’u) to cede certain things to him before he could withdraw.”
Mr Haji was also informed Mr Gethenji has been harassed twice by more than 40 police officers while arresting him over two other criminal cases filed against him by Gitahi.
In a judgement delivered by Justice David Majanja in October 2020, Ndung’u was exonerated blame and cleared of the forgery charges which now form the basis of the forgery case filed against him.
Ndung’u and six others have been charged with breaching peace by stopping a Mr Kishorkumar Dhanji Varsani from renovating his house on July 2 2019.
In that case, Mr Varsani, and his lawyer Professor George Wajackoya, were allegedly assaulted by employees of the management company.
The case will proceed on January 18, 2020 when Prof Wajackoya will testify after returning from the USA where he has gone to inter his son, a pilot, who perished in a plane crush. Gethenji and the six others are out on bond. They have denied five counts.
