Murder suspect Joh Matara will today appear before Justice Kanyi Kimondo for a hearing on the bail application.
Matara, who is facing charges of the murder of socialite Starlet Wahu at the High Court in Nairobi, is currently held at the Industrial Area Remand and Allocation Centre.
He had applied for a bond release saying that he has a fixed abode and is not a security risk.
The state however opposed citing the need to protect witnesses in the case and ongoing investigations.
On February 26, the court directed the parties to file their submissions and responses and a probation report to be presented before today's session.
Land case
Separately, the High Court will today mention a case in which it had directly led Kiambu county police boss to evict a company owned by former Gatundu MP Ngengi Muigai from a 443-acre land in Thika.
The purpose of today's mention is to confirm whether there was compliance with court orders issued last week.
The court gave Kiambu Police Commander Michael Muchiri seven days to provide security and assist in the eviction process.
Muchiri had last week told Justice Freda Mugambi that he paid a visit to the scene and realized the place is ‘ghostly’. “Former owners no longer there,” he said.
“I’m here to ask the court or find out from the legal owners of the farm why they are not able to take possession of the property. The legal owners of this farm if they have any difficulty will be able to raise that with you,” he stated.
The Judge then asked him whether his sentiments meant that he could accompany Bidii Kenya Ltd to the suit property to take possession.
Muchiri responded by saying “The rightful owners of the premises can go ahead and take possession of suit premises with the help of the auctioneer who is an official of the court, this can be done,”
The Judge indicated that her initial court orders were clear and that the process was to be overseen by his office.
“If it's ghostly as you say, I will give you seven days to accompany the applicants and assist them to take possession as the court had earlier ordered. You are to come back and confirm that the applicants have taken possession of ‘ghostly’ property in seven days,” the Judge said.
Police are there to assist Bidii Kenya ltd evict Muigais Muiri Coffee estates from the property.
The dispute between the parties has had a long history in the court corridors spanning a period over 25 years, from 1992 when the first suit was filed in the High Court.
Since then, there have been at least fourteen (14) suits with all manner of applications being made. The dispute between the parties has been canvassed in all the courts of record in this land, all the way to the Supreme Court.
The factual background of the case can be briefly traced to 12 April 1989 when the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) granted certain financial facilities to a company called Benjoh Amalgamated Limited, with Muiri Coffee Estate Limited acting as a guarantor.
Benjoh Amalgamated Limited “Benjoh”, wishing to start a flower export business applied for a loan of Sh18,675,000 through KCB.
Benjoh Amalgamated and Muiri Coffee thereafter defaulted in repayment.
Following the default on the part of Benjoh, KCB instructed a firm of its advocates to realize the securities charged.
The advocates in turn instructed auctioneers to advertise and sell by public auction the charged properties.
A day before the scheduled auction, Benjoh and Muiri filed another application seeking to stop the auction.
From then on numerous applications were filed in court but in 2007, KCB finally sold the Muigais Muiri coffee estate. It was sold to Bidii Kenya at Sh70 million.
