Ruto denies receiving money for forest plots

Lawyer Kioko Kilukumi (left), and his client Eldoret North MP William Ruto in a Nairobi court. PHOTO / FILE 

By MAUREEN NGESA mngesa@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Tuesday, March 22 2011 at 22:00

In Summary

• Suspended Cabinet minister disowns firms mentioned in case

Suspended minister William Ruto says he has nothing to do with plots he is said to have fraudulently sold to Kenya Pipeline Company.

He told the court on Tuesday that there was no evidence linking him with four companies mentioned in the case, adding that criminal charges against him were malicious and baseless.

“There are no records from the registrar of companies to demonstrate any relationship between the accused and the companies,” the court papers say.

Through his lawyer Kioko Kilukumi, the Eldoret North MP has applied to have the charges against him in the Sh96 million forest land case dropped.

In his papers, Mr Ruto told the court the 32 plots in question were the property of Kenya Times Media Trust, which is said to have registered the plots under “nominee companies” because the media house was allegedly in debt.

According to court records, among companies used by Kenya Times to register the titles were Berke Commercial Agencies, Priority Ltd, Celtic Multisystems and Samog Ltd, which are alleged to be associated with Mr Ruto.

Mr Ruto was charged in his personal capacity and on behalf of the companies listed above. He is accused of pretending to be in a position to sell government land to KPC. The MP is said to have fraudulently received Sh38.8 million.

But he argued that he did not receive any money from KPC and that none of the witnesses called admitted to have paid him money with regard to the plots of land situated in Ngong forest.

According to him, the evidence was clear money acquired after the sales was all transferred to Transnational Bank to clear debts owed to the bank by the Kenya Times.

A lawyer, Mr Francis Tuiyot, who was then representing the bank is said to have handled the sale and in his evidence told the court he forwarded Sh206 million to the bank.

According to the charges, Mr Ruto is said to have received the money from former KPC finance manager Hellen Njue. In his papers, he accused the prosecution of failing to call in Ms Njue as a witness because this could have damaged the State’s case.

The prosecution called 20 witnesses to testify against Mr Ruto, Mr Joshua Kulei and Mr Sammy Mwaita who have also applied to be acquitted, arguing that the prosecution did not prove any case against them.

The State is expected to respond to all the applications on Monday.