Why lawyer Apollo Mboya is worried about the new witness in Matiang’i case

juma chrispinus

July 18, 2018 9:10 AM

Matiang’i could be in new trouble after DPP’s latest move.

Renowned lawyer Apollo Mboya, who is representing a crucial witness, Meshak Onyango Dehay, in the controversial Ruaraka Land case in which Interior CS Dr Fred Matiang’i is linked, is worried for his (Onyango) life.

In a Twitter post which was in response to a local daily’s story which had given finer details of the witness, lamented to the Ethics and Anticorruption Commission (EACC) and Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) of the dangers the story may have put his client.

“DPP and EACC, this story has the potential to put the life of my client in danger. I urge that necessary steps are taken to address the matter. Why has it taken this long to prosecute the perpetrators of the heist?” he posed on Twitter.

The witness, a former Nairobi Businessman, linked Interior CS Fred Matiang’i to the Sh3.2 billion scam involving the controversial purchase of land in Ruaraka. He has since been adopted as a State witness in the matter in which also National Land Commission chairman Mohammed Swazuri has been roped in.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji signed in Mr Onyango as a government witness as he investigates the circumstances under which the National Lands Commission and the Education Ministry spent Sh3.2 billion to acquire land that already belonged to the public.

ALSO READ: Matiang’i could be in new trouble after DPP’s latest decision

Mr Onyango attracted national attention after he filed a statement before parliament where he admitted being privy to the fraudulent transactions involving the land at Ruaraka.

He had been a close associate of businessman Francis Mburu Munga, the man who claimed ownership of the disputed piece of land.

His statement implicated further alleges several senior government officials including Matiang’i, who at the time was the Education CS.

According to Mr Onyango, Matiang’i was to pocket Sh300 million, Mohamed Swazuri Sh400 million, Education PS Belio Kipsang Sh100 million and former Attorney General Githu Muigai Sh250 million.

juma chrispinus