Kabuga’s wife gets nod to fight for estate

By Judy Ogutu

The wife of Rwandan fugitive Felicien Kabuga has been allowed to appeal a ruling on whether Kenyan courts can hear her property case.

On Tuesday, High Court Judge Fred Ochieng’ allowed Mrs Josephine Mukazitoni to appeal against a decision dismissing her application challenging the High Court’s jurisdiction to handle a suit on their property, the Spanish Villas.

Mukazitoni had notified the court of her intention to appeal against a ruling by High Court Judge Muga Apondi.

Justice Apondi threw out her preliminary objection, saying the main suit would be heard on September 28 and 29.

In May last year, he had issued orders preserving Spanish Villas, which is jointly owned by the Kabugas.

He restrained Kabuga, his wife and the Kenya Trust Company (KTC) from selling or disposing off the property pending conclusion of a case against Kabuga, pending before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

Evade Justice

He also directed KTC to deposit all rental income from the property with the High Court Registrar.

The orders were issued after the Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko claimed Kabuga was using proceeds from the property to evade arrest as a genocide suspect.

Mukazitoni then went to court through her advocates, Mr Kennedy Ogeto and Mr Otachi Bw’Omanwa, saying the suit was incompetent.

She argued the court was not an agent of ICTR and it could, therefore, not make orders, which are not within its jurisdiction.

Kabuga is wanted for the 1994 Rwandan genocide in which more than a million people were killed in ethnic-related clashes.