Former Energy minister Chris Okemo and former Kenya Power MD Samuel Gichuru are still fighting extradition to Jersey Island to face corruption and money laundering charges.
Lawyers Fred Ngatia and Otachi B’Womote yesterday said surrender of suspects involves treaties and foreign relations and is a matter of executive discretion, not judicial intervention.
They urged appellate judges Erastus Githinji, Hannah Okwengu and Jamila Mohamed to stop enforcement of their extradition to the United Kingdom.
The decision was made on December 18, 2015, by then High Court (now Supreme Court) judge Isaac Lenaola.
According to charges filed by the Chief Justice of Jersey and presented to
DPP Keriako Tobiko, the two are accused of abuse of office by using various foreign-registered firms to siphon public money.
They have denied involvement in international crime and have twice tried unsuccessfully to block their removal.
The alleged offences date back to 2000 and a Jersey court issued an arrest warrant in April 2011.
Okemo and Gichuru are seeking to block their arrest and transfer to Jersey, where they allegedly received nearly Sh1 billion bribes from international companies that did business with KPLC between 1999 and 2002.
Their lawyers said there has been an inordinate delay in their quest for justice. They said Tobiko had no powers to initiate the extradition proceedings at the request of the Jersey authorities.
The DPP and the Attorney General have opposed the appeal, saying the two men’s constitutional rights have not been violated.
Justice Lenaola had ruled the DPP enjoys exclusive control of all criminal prosecutions, though before promulgation of the 2010 Constitution prosecutions were the AG’s responsibility.
He said Kenya and the UK have a mutual extradition agreement that is binding and enforceable. Under the pact, the constitutional rights of the subjects to fair trial are guaranteed.
Hearing continues today.