Court in Homa Bay lifts warrant of arrest against former MP

It was a sigh of relief for former Karachuonyo MP James Rege after a Homa Bay court lifted a warrant of arrest against him over misappropriation of Ksh 909,398 CDF funds.

The an anti-corruption court sitting in Homa Bay of Friday issued a warrant of arrest against Rege after he failed to appear in court over misappropriation of the funds which occurred on diverse dates between 2011 and November 28, 2013 when he was the MP for Karachuonyo.

But Rege, who is the chairperson of the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) got reprieve on Monday after the court lifted the warrant of arrest.

This is after his lawyer Ishmael Nyaribo told the court that Rege had not appeared in the court due to unavoidable circumstances.

In his application, Nyaribo argued that Rege has been admitted in Karen hospital in Nairobi where he is undergoing medical care after he fell ill.

Nyaribo produced a letter signed by a doctor from the hospital indicating that Rege is unwell.

He argued that Rege was already in the hospital at the time he was expected to appear in court on Friday.

“Eng Rege’s and his doctor have informed me that the latter is sick. He is undergoing medication in Karen hospital hence unable to attend court proceedings,” said Nyaribo.

Nyaribo added that Rege never received any summons from police that he was required to appear in court.

“Your honour, Rege is a law abiding citizen who cannot decline to appear in court when he is required to do so.  He failed to appear because of unavoidable circumstances,” Nyaribo said.

He requested the court to lift the arrest warrant on condition that

Rege cannot defy court orders.

“Kindly lift the ban because this is a senior and law-abiding citizen who will comply with directives of the court,” he added.

Homa Bay Senior Principal Magistrate Thomas Obutu lifted the warrant on grounds that Rege was unable to appear in court.

“Through evidence adduced by the lawyer, the court has concluded that the accused person could not attend the court proceeding because he has been sick. The arrest warrant is hereby lifted,” Obutu said as he also ordered that Rege appears in court on July 14, 2020.

Meanwhile, the second accused in the case, Kennedy Ochieng’ is set to be charged alongside Rege who is among six people who have been accused of loss of the funds. Some of the six held various offices in the NGCDF.