On Wednesday, November 21, 2018, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations said lawyer Tom Ojienda was under probe over the alleged loss of public funds at Mumias Sugar Company, setting up a fresh legal fight over the scope of the investigation.
According to the DCI, the case is not limited to the tax dispute that Prof Ojienda has challenged in court. The directorate told the court that detectives were trying to establish whether Mumias Sugar Company, or any other person, “was involved, aided, connived, and or facilitated” the offence under investigation, and whether government money was lost through fraud.
Prof Ojienda had moved to court two weeks earlier seeking to stop his arrest. He argued that the directorate was targeting him because of alleged forged entries in his tax register and fictitious figures in records of his legal fees.
The DCI, however, said the matter was connected to Mumias Sugar, the Nairobi bourse-listed miller that has received billions of shillings in a state-backed bailout plan. The company remains under scrutiny because the State has a stake in it and the alleged loss of funds is central to the inquiry.
Ojienda previously acted for Mumias Sugar. He is now representing former Mumias Sugar managing director Evans Kidero in his disputes with the anti-graft agency. The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has been investigating Mr Kidero, who also served as Nairobi governor, over alleged embezzlement of public funds during his time at City Hall and at Mumias Sugar.
The commission says it is examining properties worth Sh9 billion linked to Mr Kidero, mainly land and buildings in different parts of the country. Mr Kidero has denied the allegations, saying the commission overstated the value of his assets and wrongly listed him as the owner of properties that do not belong to him.
Separately, on November 2, High Court judge Chacha Mwita barred the DCI and the Kenya Revenue Authority from beginning civil or criminal proceedings against Prof Ojienda over the tax matter. That order remains part of the wider legal contest surrounding the lawyer’s case.
