Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji on Thursday, January 30 lost in an application to cancel bail terms set for Samburu Governor Moses Lenolkulal on allegations that he reshuffled his Cabinet despite having an ongoing graft case.
As reported by Citizen TV, Haji had applied to have Lenolkulal locked up awaiting trial for accessing his office and attending to duties that the court had barred him from.
However, the governor indicated that he had not acted against any orders by the court and that the changes were in line with the law.
Lenolkulal, in his response, argued that he was not suspended from office and a ruling by Chief Magistrate Douglas Ogoti found that he did not breach any of the bail terms.
"I am advised by my advocates that the question as to whether I can reshuffle the Samburu County Executive Committee and whether the act of reshuffling amounts to the breach of my bail terms, has already been determined by this court in the ruling delivered on May 15, 2019,” remarked Lenolkulal.
Lenolkulal woes started in April 2019, when his litigation process commenced, the DPP accusing him from the loss of Ksh84 million from the county through corrupt deals.
This led to the Anti-corruption Court Chief Magistrate Douglas Ogoti ruling that Lenolkulal pays a bail Ksh100 million, the highest ever in the country.
Ogoti also gave the governor an alternative to deposit a bond of Ksh150 million and one surety of the same amount.
However, the High Court reduced the bail terms for the Samburu governor to Ksh10 million after a review application.
On December 20, 2019, the Court of Appeal upheld a ruling by Justice Mumbi Ngugi's ruling barring governors from accessing office.
While dismissing a petition presented by Samburu Governor Moses Lenolkulal, a bench led by Justice Jamila Mohammed ruled that the High Court ruling was fully constitutional indicating that the governor position was not vacated.
The ruling by Justice Mumbi Ngugi that was made in July 2019, ordered that all constitutional office holders with corruption charges step aside until they were cleared by the courts.
“There have been circumstances in the past in which county governors have, for reasons of ill health been out of office, and given the fact that the constitution provides for the seat of a deputy governor, the counties have continued to function. In this case, the applicant is charged with a criminal offence; he has been accused of being in ‘moral ill-health,” Ngugi had ruled.
