A Nairobi court has ruled that two former KRA officers charged with facilitating irregular issuance of a Tax Compliance Certificate to non-compliant taxpayers upon payment of a bribe have a case to answer.

Nairobi Anti-corruption Court Principal Magistrate Celesa Asis Okore placed former KRA officers Mercy Victoria Masinde, Charity Njoki Kinyua, and security guard Jane Njoki Kangara on their defence after the prosecution established a prima facia case against them.

The court ruled that the accused persons being officers at the Department of Domestic Taxes of the Kenya Revenue Authority received a bribe of Ksh.4,500 and facilitated the issuance of a Tax Compliance Certificate to Esinka Agencies Limited which had outstanding Tax Liabilities amounting to Ksh.110,000.

The accused persons were arrested by a multi-agency security team led by DCI supported by other units, following a simultaneous raid on various KRA offices within Nairobi at its environs.

Mercy Victoria Masinde was separately charged with the additional offence of Abuse of office contrary to Section 46 as read with Section 48 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act No.3 of 2003.

Prosecution counsel Jeremiah Walusala and Linda Otieno while arguing their case told the court that Mercy Victoria Masinde then working as a Tax Compliance Officer at KRA, used her position to improperly confer a benefit to award a Tax Compliance Certificate to Esinka Agencies Limited.

The case will be mentioned on September 9, 2024.

A man who knowingly used some draconian words towards Trans Nzoia Chief of Staff Dickson Wamocho to score his political goals is now staring at civil jail or part away with millions for his act if the current court papers in a case against him are anything to go by.

John Khisa posted some defamatory words in a Kaplamai Whatsapp group calling wamocho a ‘thief, idiot among other unprintable words.

Sources say that Khisa did this to maliciously taint Mr. Wamocho as corrupt and a person who is unfit to hold office with instructions from some political opponents to tarnish his name.

In a demand letter from Mr.Wamocho through Bikundo and Co.Advocates, Mr.Khisa has been ordered to apologise immediately in the same WhatsApp group and his other social media accounts.

“Our client claims that the said words were published with the knowledge that they were libellous and defamatory and as a consequence his character, esteem, social, political and religious standings, his record as a law-abiding citizen, credit and reputation have been subjected into ridicule, odium and contempt causing him enormous anxiety, mental agony, distress, pain, considerable loss and damage,” read the letter in parts.

It added, ” We state that legally the published words above mentioned by yourself to a wide publication in the internet against our client whom you directly mentioned are defamatory, false and tending to injure the reputation of our client without lawful justification or excuse,” it stated.

Khisa has now been ordered to pull down the said words and apologise in the same platforms he posted or face legal repercussions.

“We therefore DEMAND that you apologise to our client by publishing an apology in the said Kaplamai Ward Politics WhatsApp group having 404 members, facebook, twitter and a formal letter of apology to our offices immediately FAILURE UPON which we shall institute both criminal and the necessary defamation claim in a court of law seeking damages, cost and interest without reference from yourself,” the letter said.

This comes after Netizens thronged various social media platforms congratulating Tranzoia Governor George Natembeya as a successful leader. Wamocho is his Chief of Staff and has played a critical role in supporting Natembeya’s regime.

In its relentless pursuit to counter trafficking in narcotics, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has made significant strides over the weekend, seizing large quantities of narcotics and apprehending suspects through well-coordinated efforts by officers across the country.

On the Migori-Sirare highway, vigilant officers at a checkpoint intercepted a motorcycle rider carrying two bags of marijuana weighing 73.6 kilograms, valued at approximately Sh2,208,000.

Despite their efforts, the trafficker managed to slip through their fingers, abandoning the narcotics and the motorcycle at the scene.

Along the Nambale-Busia road, a multi-agency roadblock led to the interception of a motor vehicle, KBM 098P Isuzu Pick-Up where one suspect George Willis Obua, 20, was arrested in possession of 350 rolls of bhang weighing 22 kilograms, with an estimated street value of Sh660,000.

At a roadblock on the Mai Mahiu-Nairobi road, officers from the Anti-Narcotics Unit (ANU) and the Transnational Organized Crime Unit (TOCU) intercepted a motor vehicle, KDN 081H.

The driver attempted to flee, causing a chaotic chase that ended when the vehicle got stuck in a ditch. The driver, John Otero Mochoge, was arrested, and a search of the vehicle uncovered 19 packages of cannabis.

In Busia, detectives acting on a tip-off arrested Bertha Anyango Wandera, 29, at the Busia main bus stage as she was boarding a public service vehicle bound for Nairobi.

A swift search of her brown bag revealed one bale of bhang wrapped in white cello tape, weighing 17.15 kilograms, with an estimated street value of Sh514,500.

The suspects will be arraigned today. Meanwhile, the seized narcotics and vehicles are being held as exhibits.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations reiterates its unwavering commitment to counter narcotics trafficking and urges the public to steer clear of this illicit trade, as offenders will face the full force of the law.

A Lamu court has slapped a man, 28, with a three-decade jail term for defiling a 12-year-old girl.

The court heard how the convict’s family offered furniture to the minor’s family as a mode of compensation for the defilement.

But the deal fell through after the convict’s family failed to keep their side of bargain, forcing the minor’s relatives to seek justice with the authorities.

Lamu Resident Magistrate Hon. Flavian Mulama found Jafar Mohamed Alias Mudhafar guilty of defilement contrary to section 8(1) as read with 8(2) of the sexual offences act no.3 of 2006.

Prosecution Counsel Ahmed Omar Mohamed availed 6 witnesses to prove the case against the convicted defiler.

Further, Hon. Flavian gave a tongue-lashing to mothers of the accused and the defiled girl for condoning the criminal act. The two women entered into a concession to settle the matter with the victim’s mother reporting the incident with police after the accused’s family failed on the terms of compensation.

The victim impact statement report indicated that the girl lost her virginity to the accused in 2022 following a series of unprotected sex.

The report further indicates that the girl was on the verge of dropping out of the school following persistent pressure from the accused who promised to marry her.

Hon. Flavian was more enraged with a female Lamu county hospital clinical officer, who doctored the medical report and encouraged the two families to settle the matter out of court.

The medic’s action tempted the victim’s mother to ask for full furniture which comprise of a bed, wardrobe and a dressing table as a restitution measure.

“It was wrong for the treating doctor one Aziza S Mbaruk to allow and/or permit any interference with the treatment notes and all these intentions are made clear by her advise to the victims to resolve the matter out of court. For you, I will not say shame on you but I will ask that your immediate supervisor and your relevant regulatory body to take note of this unbecoming behaviour as all these were made to mislead the court,” the court noted.

More baffling is the accused’s confessing during his defence that he was a married man and an adoring father to 2 twins’ girls.

“I have only one question for you today. How would you have felt if another man your age does what you did to the victim herein to any or both of your daughters? And this includes a funny and misguided request that they drop from school so that he marries her or them? I bet you would be as mad as the word itself and in this side of the county you would be armed with a panga or a knife ready to attack the perpetrator and this grudge would have played through the generations to come.”

The magistrate took issue with the culprit’s mother, who prepared a meal of rice and stew and a hot breakfast and delivered the same to her son while in the room with the girl.

“We can all guess again what would have happened had the mother of the accused person called him out and not condoned the behaviour by her son. Shame on you for encouraging your son to commit the offence. You had the power to stop your son’s shenanigans but you promoted it by providing food, maybe so that he has the energy. Sadly, that may be his last meal prepared by you for the next couple of years to come,” the court observed.

The magistrate further lashed out at the victim’s mother for seeking a fully decorated furniture, something that would have not survived 7 years, as a compensation for her daughter’s virginity.

“For your information, the virginity was not yours but hers and as a mother you have all the rights to protect her from it being taken away from her until she is 18 years old and that is when she is lawfully assumed to have the power to determine how, when and to whom it should be lost to,” The magistrate added:

“To all the mothers present in court and those who will ever mind reading this ruling. Your children are your investment and who will come to your aid in your old age and hence the need to protect them from harmful behaviour and persons.

“Allowing them to blunder at their tender age and encouraging them to blunder not only renders them useless persons in the society but also make you as parents suffer in your old age.

A businessman has today been convicted by a Nairobi Anti -Corruption court for giving a bribe of Ksh. 100,000 to a female police officer.

Paul Mwangi Warutere was fined Ksh.300,000 or serve 2 years imprisonment after prosecuting counsel Victor Onyiego established a bribery case against the accused person beyond reasonable doubt.

Warutere gave Ksh. 100,000 to a Police Corporal attached to Central police station within Nairobi County with the aim of gaining favours from the investigating officer in Milimani http://CR.NO.2155 OF 2019 in which the accused person, his father and wife were charged with conspiracy to defraud millions of shillings.

He offered a bribe of Ksh. 100,000 to a public officer on the 16th January 2020 in the Republic of Kenya within Nairobi.

Principal Magistrate Isabellah Barasa sentenced Warutere to a fine of Ksh.150,000 or in default to serve 2 years for offering a bribe to a police officer and to pay another fine of Ksh.150,000 in default serve 2 years imprisonment for giving a bribe of Ksh.100,000 to a police officer.

She directed the offence to run sentences will run consecutively.