Court declines to block Kamanis trial

Kenya: The High Court has declined to stop tomorrow's trial against three Kamani family members for their involvement in the Anglo Leasing scandal.

Justice George Odunga yesterday ruled the order to bar the magistrate's court from hearing the case against Deepak Kamani, his brother Rashmi Kamani and father Chamanlal Kamani could only be issued after hearing the Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko's response.

Justice Odunga noted the trial before the lower court would take time, adding that the High Court has powers to intervene if it finds that the case by the trio has merit and is likely to succeed.

"It is very unlikely that the case before the magistrate's court will be heard and determined the same day. The prayers that the orders of this court operate as stay of the prosecution before the lower court will be determined after hearing from both parties," Odunga ruled.

The three Kamanis moved to the court under a certificate of urgency saying that there was a valid contract between the State and their companies and thus the matter could not be criminalised.

Public relations

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Their lawyers Ahmednassir Abdullahi and Paul Nyamodi said the State is using the case against them to avoid paying for the contracts.

In a case before Justice George Odunga, Infotalent and Sound Day (owed by owned by the Kamanis) argued that they fulfilled their part of the contract. The court heard that the business relationship between the State and the two companies only ended due to financial constraints on the part of the Government.

"Instead of the Government honouring its end of the bargain, it puts you in the dock to answer charges. It is only when a citizen breaks the law that the Government takes action but when it fails, it cannot flip the side of the coin," said Mr Ahmednassir.

He termed the case a public relations exercise that was only meant to sanitise Kenya's corrupt image in the international arena, adding that Tobiko's decision to prosecute the case was an abuse of his powers and a waste of the Judiciary's time.