Nairobi Chief magistrate Francis Andayi on Thursday, March 18 allowed the Director of Public Prosecution’s (DPP) request to suspend the hearing of a Ksh122 million graft case until Jennifer Wambua’s killing was unravelled.
While making the ruling, Andayi said that the case would go on once the investigations were done.
“For the court, it is very sad that she died when she was in the middle of the testimony,” Andayi said.
The magistrate added that Wambua had failed to show up in court twice when she was scheduled to testify. Before her death, she was set to be cross-examined by the defence lawyers.
“On the first occasion, she had come to court to be cross-examined but she suddenly become ill. On the second date, she was still not available,” the magistrate said.
Wambua, who was a senior official at the National Land Commission (NLC), was a witness in the case where Lugari Member of Parliament (MP) Ayub Savula and former Information Permanent Secretary, Sammy Itemere, are facing charges of stealing Ksh122.3 million from the Government Advertising Agency(GAA).
The DPP through the state prosecutor, Henry Kinyanjui, had requested for an adjournment of the case.
“She was our witness and gave her evidence before she was stood down for cross-examination. It has not been established whether her death is related to the case but once investigations are over, the DPP will review the file and ensure that all culprits are brought to book,” Kinjanjui said.
The defence lawyer representing Savula, Kirathe Wandugi, said that he was just as shocked by her death. Wambua had produced invoices, cheques and vouchers allegedly paid from GAA which she had not approved.
“We welcome investigations so that no suspicion can be seen on our side. Her death was tragic and came at a time when we were prepared to cross-examine her,” Wandugi said.
An autopsy conducted at the Montezuma Monalisa Funeral Home by government pathologist Johansen Odour on Thursday, March 18 revealed that she died from strangulation by bare hands.
Her lawyer, Dan Maanzo, added that she suffered injuries on her body as she tried to defend herself.
CCTV analysis by investigators have shown that Wambua could have been abducted from the car park at around 10 a.m. moments after she walked out of her office.
Her husband told the police that her spare key was in her handbag which was found in the car boot. This has led to investigations being shifted to the car yard.
“The spare key was inside her bag which was in the car. This means that she may have been at the parking yard at some point,” a detective was quoted by the Standard
