By Cyrus Ombati
Details of how police and Nairobi county officials lured lawyer Tom Ojienda out of a building so that he could be arrested have emerged. Police claimed they had been looking for Prof Ojienda, a Judicial Service Commission member, for two days. On Friday, he was driven to Barclays Plaza along Loita Street to run errands.
After he left, his driver called and informed him that his car had been clamped.
Ojienda called City Hall officials as he sought help to have his car unclamped.
And as he walked to the car, police pounced on him and declared he was under arrest. A few minutes later, the car was unclamped and the driver told to leave. As Ojienda arrived at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters along Kiambu Road, an ally of Deputy President William Ruto called him, saying he had been arrested and needed his legal help.
Samuel Mburu, who is married to Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika, had also been arrested over an alleged Sh64 million fraud and taken to the DCI headquarters.
“Ojienda told Mburu he was also under arrest and was arriving at DCI. He sounded shocked about the police move,” said a witness who was present.
The lawyer spent his third night at Muthaiga police station ahead of the planned arraignment.
Yesterday, the station was teeming with lawyers, friends and relatives, with lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi saying his team would fight the proposed charges.
Police searched Ojienda’s office in Muthaiga area as part of preparations to charge him. They carried away documents. Ojienda, who represented former Mumias Managing Director Evans Kidero in some cases, is to be arraigned alongside the sugar miller’s former company finance director, Peter Kibati, and secretary, Emily Otieno.
According to Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji, the three will also be charged with abuse of office and uttering false documents.
The DPP said Mumias Sugar Company lost Sh89 million that was paid out through fraudulent schemes. Ojienda is also accused of faking court proceedings to obtain money as legal fees from the sugar miller.
Ojienda issued a statement from the cells saying he has never filed a fake case: “I have read the Director of Public Prosecution’s statement with utter shock and disbelief… These charges sound like a big joke and reek of malice, bad faith and fly in the face of the fundamental duty of an advocate to receive instructions and charge fees from a client.
“I would like to state without any fear of contradiction that I do not, I cannot and I have never filed a fake case. I have never conspired with any person to be paid for work not done.
