Court orders police to arrest Interior PS Mutea Iringo

By PAMELA CHEPKEMEI

KENYA: A Nairobi court has ordered the arrest of Interior Principal Secretary Mutea Iringo for disobeying orders.

The High Court ordered that Iringo be arrested and presented before Justice George Odunga to explain why he should not be sent to jail.

The court issued the arrest warrant after Iringo failed to honour orders in 2011, which directed him, as the accounting officer in the Ministry of Internal Security, to pay money to a businessman, Peter Kamau Mwangi.

The warrant of arrest was issued and the OCPD Central Police Station Patrick Aduma ordered to apprehend Iringo and present him in court but he has not been able to do it.

“You are hereby directed to arrest the said Mutea Iringo and bring him with convenient speed,” read the order signed by the court registrar.

Odunga said the PS should be arrested because he had failed to facilitate payment to the businessman and had not turned up in court to explain why he did not comply with the order.

The OCPD told the court that he was unable to arrest Iringo because the warrant did not have his specific name. He also said he had visited Iringo’s office but could not enforce the orders.

He requested the court to allow the amendment of the order so that it could reflect Iringo as the person being sought. Odunga allowed the application.

When the case was mentioned before another judge, he directed that it should be placed before Odunga who made the initial order.

A state counsel from the Attorney General’s office requested judge Weldon Korir to allow the case to be mentioned next week because the file is being handled by one of her colleagues.

The case will be mentioned on February 13.

UNLAWFUL SEIZURE

Mwangi sued the Government for unlawful seizure of a vehicle in 2005. The businessman, who was a motor vehicle dealer, filed the case against the Government after police raided his parking yard in Kariobangi and confiscated an Isuzu mini bus he intended to sell on behalf of a client.

The magistrate’s court subsequently ruled that the confiscation was illegal because there was no court order or authority to allow the Criminal Investigation Department officers to take such action.

He was awarded Sh730,000 for loss of business and trauma. However, the businessman was not paid and he moved to the High Court to compel the Government to honour the order. The court issued the orders directing that payment be made in 2011 but no money was given to Mwangi.