Patel Coffee Estates Limited Managing Director (MD) Perry Mansukh Kansagara has on Tuesday been allowed to move out of the country.
The owner of the killer Solai Dam had sought the court's permission to travel to India between August 9 and August 14, 2018, to attend a court hearing.
Naivasha Principal Magistrate Joseph Karanja has now temporarily allowed Mansukh to obtain his travel documents which he had surrendered to the court.
[caption caption="The aftermath of the Patel Dam tragedy"]
[/caption]
This is after he was charged over the Patel Dam tragedy that claimed lives of 47 people and left hundreds of others homeless.
Mansukh is set to travel to India to attend the hearing of a child custody case pitting him against his wife.
In his application, the Patel Coffee Estates MD told the court that should he fail to attend the case in India, he is likely to lose custody of his child - a position that appears to have satisfied the court.
Mansukh and Nakuru County officials were arraigned in a Naivasha Court facing charges of manslaughter, neglect of official duty and failing to prepare an environmental impact assessment report.
On pleading not guilty to the charges, the accused were released on a Ksh2.5 million cash bail and directed to surrender their travel documents.
The Senate Ad hoc Committee probing the Solai dam tragedy concluded that the dam burst was not an act of God but a case of omission and a conspiracy between the dam owner and state agencies.
Demanding a severe punishment against Mansukh, the legislators led by Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jnr indicated that this should serve "as an example to other people taking the lives of Kenyans for a ride".
[caption caption="Perry Mansukh Kansagara and his co-accused at a Naivasha Court"]
[/caption]
Among the 27 recommendations contained in the 1,800-page document is that the Patel Dam owner should cede part of the 3,250-acre farmland for resettling the families affected by the tragedy.
