Man charged over ouster of Unaitas Sacco chair Joseph Kabugu

Mr Alexander Irungu Wanjiru was taken to the Milimani chief magistrate’s court on Monday and charged with lying to police in a bid to cause them to arrest and investigate Mr Kabugu on allegations of falsifying his academic credentials.

Court papers indicate that Mr Irungu reported the matter at the Serious Crimes Unit of the  Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

The court heard that the accused told Sergeant Sevelina Kalunge that Mr Kiburu forged a document for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams so as to gain admission to Shinners Technical College in Murang’a County to pursue a certificate course.

Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi heard that by furnishing the law enforcers with the false information, Mr Irungu intended to cause the police officer to investigate, arrest and charge Mr Kabugu.

However, investigations established that the allegations were not true, leading to Mr Irungu’s arrest and the criminal case that started on Monday.

He committed the offence on November 28, 2019 at the DCI headquarters in Nairobi.

Mr Irungu denied the charge and sought to be released on reasonable bond terms.

“I have not been in employment for some time due to the Covid-19 pandemic that has [affected] the economic status of the majority of companies the world over,” he said.

The court allowed his application and granted him a Sh30,000 bond in the case that will be mentioned on May 24 for directions on the hearing to be given.

Mr Irungu is also the petitioner in a matter at the Senate where he is challenging the decision of the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) board to allegedly handpick Peter Kamunyo as the new chief executive officer (CEO).

He claims Dr Kamunyo’s appointment did not follow due process because there was no competitive recruitment.

Mr Irungu stated that the NHIF board refused to appoint a CEO from among the persons who emerged the best in interviews held earlier, despite provisions of the Constitution and statutes which require competitive recruitment for jobs at State corporations.

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