The Sh60 million graft case against Kipipiri MP Amos Kimunya and two others will be heard on March 15, 2018.
The
Anti-Corruption Court gave this directive on Tuesday after parties agreed that the matter should proceed without further delays.
The case was put off on November 20 after the court was informed that defence lawyers were handling petitions at different courts.
Senior state counsel Daniel Karuri had reported that they were ready to proceed with two witnesses.
Related:
Kimunya has been charged alongside Lilian Njenga - a director of Land Adjudication and Settlement -
and Jughae Wainaina -
chairman of Midlands Ltd, a company associated with the MP who once served as finance minister.
The three are facing charges of abusing their officers by
fraudulently disposing of public property worth Sh60 million.
The prosecution alleges that in June 2005, Kimunya and Njenga allocated Midlands 25 acres of public land.
Kimunya is accused of not protecting public property and
failing to disclose he was a director of Midland,
Njenga of disposing public property and Wainaina of fraudulently acquiring public property registered under Settlement Fund Trustee.
Wainaina and Midlands are accused of fraudulent acquisition of public property on February 6, 2006, in Nairobi county.
The accused have denied seven counts of abuse of office, failing to disclose a private interest to one’s principal and fraudulent disposal of public property.
Earlier, witness
Joseph Wanuma said
farmers in Kinangop, Nyandarua county, did not benefit in any way from the activities of Midlands Ltd, which allegedly bought 25 acres of land from Settlement Fund Trustee.
The Kinango officer from the Agriculture ministry also
said he has never seen transfer papers showing how the property was transferred from the trustee to Midlands.
Milimani trial magistrate Felix Kombo
heard that the trustee was holding the land in Njabini.
The witness also said he had no idea who the directors of Midlands were.
"The land has been transferred to Midlands by Settlement Funds Trustee. I did not know if the owners of the land had capacity to transfer it," said the witness.
During cross-examination by the defence, Wanuma said there was no record showing a title deed had been handed to Wainaina. He added that the accused not a beneficiary of the land.
Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko has rejected Kimunya's plea for the matter to be settled out of court.
The Nyandarua county government wanted the case settled but the prosecution
told the court the plea was rejected because of public interest.
Nyandarua had asked the court to withdraw the case saying they had recognised
Midlands' importance to the agriculture industry.
“The government, through the Agriculture ministry, should withdraw the complaint on the land allocated to
Midlands,” said the defence