Former Leader of Majority in the National Assembly Amos Kimunya can breathe a sigh of relief after the Court granted him Ksh700,000 cash bail in the revived Ksh60 million land fraud case.
According to the ruling made by Chief Magistrate Lawrence Mugambi of the Milimani Courts, his two co-accused were freed on a cash bail of Ksh1 million each.
Kimunya's lawyer had pleaded with the court to accord his clients time to digest the "shock" emanating from the reversal of a court decision that had acquitted them of the charges.
"The accused persons were earlier acquitted under section 210 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC). It came as a surprise that the High Court reversed the decision and the accused persons are in shock. They need time to digest the judgment," the lawyer Magistrate Mugambi.
In addition, Chief Magistrate Mugambi declined a request to have magistrate Felix Kombo continue with the case.
Mugambi, instead, ordered Kimunya and his co-accused to appear before Magistrate Peter Ooko on October 31 for the commencement of the hearing.
"In this case, Kombo made his decision, and the High court reversed after finding it was improper or unfair. My view is that this matter should be tried before another court.
I hereby appoint Magistrate Ooko to hear and determine this case," the chief magistrate ruled.
This was the first appearance in court after the reversal of his acquittal on Thursday, October 6. The High Court allowed a repeat of their trial after an appeal by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).
The case dates back to 2005 when Kimunya was serving in the Ministry of Lands under the late President Mwai Kibaki. He is accused of irregularly transferring public land to a company linked to his name.
The former Leader of Majority and the two co-accused were acquitted of the charges in June 2021 over lack of sufficient evidence.
However, High Court Justice Esther Maina found that the decision to acquit them was erroneous and subsequently ordered for a fresh trial.
