Former minister summoned over council house

A Nairobi court Wednesday issued summons to former cabinet minister Katana Ngala in connection with fraudulent acquisition of the official residence of the Nairobi Mayor.

The chief magistrate court summoned Ngala who is out of the country to appear in court on the 26th of this month.

Ngala is expected to answer to charges relating to the acquisition of the official residence of the Nairobi Mayor situated in Lavington.

However, his wife Isabel Vicky and former Nairobi Mayor John Ndirangu and Eustus Mwangi appeared before Nairobi chief magistrate Gilbert Mutembei and pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud the city council.

They are accused of swindling the city council of the mayor's official residence by falsely implying that the property was allotted and sold to Ngala who subsequently transferred it to his wife Vicky.

The home in the leafy Lavington suburb has been at the centre of a protracted battle between City Hall and the former Minister.

Meanwhile, former Mandera Central MP Billow Kerrow walked out of the court a free man after he was found not guilty.

Kerrow had been accused of unlawfully uttering inciting words, in reference to the security operation in Mandera district, allegedly calculated to prevent the enforcement of law on 28th October 2008 at 680 Hotel.

In his judgment, Chief magistrate Gilbert Mutembei told the court that no witness told the court that he saw Billow addressing the press at 680 hotel.