Why Koinange’s wife failed to get back her passport

By Wahome Thuku

Mbiyu Koinange was one of the most powerful and influential Cabinet ministers during the presidency of Jomo Kenyatta.

Koinange, who was Kenyatta’s most trusted man, died on September 2, 1981 exactly three years after the president’s death.

Almost 30 years later in October 2010, his youngest wife Eddah Wanjiru Mbiyu and son David Njuno Mbiyu and four other people were charged at the Nakuru High Court with murder of Maasai activist Moses ole Mpoe and a Narok farmer, Parsaaiyia ole Kitu.

The alleged offence is linked to controversies over 4,900 acres of land in Mau Narok owned by Koinange family. Mpoe and Kitu were shot at Soilo junction near Nakuru Town on December 3, 2010.

The other accused are former farm manager Nicholas Ng’etich, Johnston Kipkurui, Stephen Mwanzia, Musana ole Mbukoe and John Kiragu Macharia.

On January 28, last year, Ms Mbiyu and the other co-accused were released on Sh1 million bonds each with two sureties of similar amount. She was ordered to deposit her passport in court to ensure she does not leave the country. She complied and was set free and the trial began.

Since then, however, she has made several attempts to get her passport back. On September 12, last year, she applied to have the passport back for 21 days to enable her accompany her daughter to the United Kingdom where she had been admitted to a university.

Admission letter

She argued she wanted to accompany her so that she can help her settle down in college. To convince the court, her lawyer Gordon Ogolla produced an admission letter and a statement indicating she had already paid fees.

The State opposed and trial judge Hellen Omondi dismissed the application. Justice Omondi pointed out that Mbiyu’s daughter was old enough to take herself to the UK, register for studies and settle on her own.

In December, she renewed the application for temporary release of the passport. This time the reason was the opposite. Her son was graduating from Kingston University in London, UK, and she had been invited to attend the graduation.

While arguing the application before Omondi, her lawyer Paul Muite said like any other parent, Mbiyu wished to see her son graduating from the university.

“All parents encourage their children to excel in school and the climax is the graduation ceremony,” Muite said, adding his client was the only living parent of the student. He asked the judge to conceptualise how the student would feel lonely at the graduation venue when his colleagues are surrounded by their parents and relatives.

Muite said his client was required to travel to the UK on January 25, 2013 and would undertake to re-deposit the passport in court before January 31, once she flew back to the country.

He produced an invitation letter dated November 26, 2012 signed by Holland (the Graduation and Events Administrator of the university).

Muite said Mbiyu had faithfully attended court and other cases where she is facing attempted murder charges and would not jump bail.

“The significance of a mother’s presence at such an event is emphasised and that nothing has been presented to this court to suggest that she will not come back to the country were she to make the trip,” Muite submitted. He took issue with the fact that it was only Mbiyu who had been asked to deposit her passport in court, terming it discrimination.

Crowning glory

As expected, the application was vehemently opposed by the State, saying it was the fourth time she was asking to get the passport back to attend to her children’s affairs.

The State argued that if Mbiyu left the country, it would be difficult to get her back to attend the hearings. The State counsel denied the discrimination claims, saying it was only Mbiyu who had a passport. He said other relatives could attend to the family affairs.

Muite said the latest application was different from the previous one.

“It is the crowning glory for many years of toiling, and the surviving parent ought to be given a chance to attend,” he said, adding that his client had a constitutional right to exit and re-enter Kenya. And if she jumped bail, she could easily be extradited to Kenya.

Justice Omondi observed that depositing the passport was one of the conditions attached to the freedom of all the accused and there was no discrimination. She had made efforts to have the passport back.

Mbiyu’s history of attending court diligently was weighed against her zealous efforts to get back the passport.

 Declaratory orders

“From a reading of the record, she has demonstrated a desire to have the court offload her from the proceedings by filing a petition seeking declaratory orders against her arrest, detention and being charged. These two factors are an indicator of the anxiety on her mind, to get the trial off her tracks and, therefore, her propensity not to return,” the judge ruled.

She added; “The trial has progressed considerably and whereas I concur with the defence counsel that the most glorious moment would be for a mother to witness her child’s high achievement, this emotional attachment must not be allowed to cloud the real likelihood that once the applicant is out of jurisdiction, there would be no easy way to ensure her return to continue with the trial – extradition is not a one way affair.”

Once again, the judge ruled it was not prudent to order for the release of the passport and dismissed the application.

The writer is a court reporter with the Standard Group

Email:iwahome@standardmedia.co.ke