Former banker sues the State over 2007/2008 post-election violence

A former banker has sued the State for failing to protect him and his family during the 2007/2008 post-election violence.

Bethuel Njuguna, 89, who lived in Kuresoi sub-county during the bloody violence that left more than 1,000 people dead, accused the National Police Service of not responding to his distress calls.

Mr Njuguna lost his house valued at Sh12 million that stood on 127.5 acres, a 17-acre tea estate and a tree plantation he had nurtured for 38 years during the violence that erupted in Kuresoi on February 9, 2008.

When making his case before Justice Joel Ngugi on Wednesday at the Nakuru Law Courts, Njuguna stated the government failed to protect him, his family and his property.

“When I called the commissioner of police, I was directed to Mr Eric Kiraithe, the then police spokesman, who did not help either. I plead with the court to ask the government to compensate me and my family for being expelled from my house which I bought with my own money,” pleaded Njuguna.

Filed objection

He told the court that the land in Kuresoi was bought from a European settler.

Further, he blamed the police for not acting on reports he made at a police station.

“The former police spokesperson had promised me to call the regional commissioner to move in and protect my family but they never reached out nor did they send any help,” he said.

His house and the tea plantation were burnt while his livestock were either stolen or killed by attackers.

Njuguna was forced to flee with his family to Nairobi to live with his son where he stayed for two years.

“I lived in Kuresoi for 38 years before the violence. I am not a politician and I don’t know why I was caught up in these clashes,” he says.

His lawyer Mwangi Kibicho presented in court photos of the said house which the Attorney General’s representative, Winnie Cheruiyot, objected to, stating that the photos should be accompanied by a certificate.

However, the court noted that the matter has been in court for over seven years and the State has never filed any objection to the list of documents.

The court stood down the witness, allowing his counsel time to file the certificate of the document.

The case will be heard on March 31.