Blow to Kinoti after court declines to suspend his 4-months prison sentence

The High Court has declined to suspended Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti’s four-month prison sentence, which was handed last week.

This comes after Attorney-General Kihara Kariuki moved to court seeking impending arrest of Kinoti for contempt of court to be suspended.

The court ordered that the case be heard tomorrow in a ruling delivered today.

In a petition filed in court, Kariuki, through lawyer Cecil Miller wanted Kinoti’s sentence to Kamiti Maximum Security Prison suspended.

“The DCI has since written to the Attorney-General instructing them to write to Mr. Wanjigi’s advocates inform them to collect their firearms from the board. By doing so, the DCI has purged the contempt,” states AG Kariuki in court papers.

“Wanjigi maliciously failed to failed to disclose to this court material facts which if were disclosed, the court would have arrived at a different decision.”

The AG claims that the contempt charges against Kinoti were misdirected because the Firearms Licencing Board is the custodian of firearms.

Kinoti was sentenced to four months in prison last Thursday after failing to comply with court orders to return firearms seized from businessman Jimmy Wanjigi.

The warrant was to be executed by the Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai.

However, Kinoti was allegedly seeking orders to stop Mutyambai from arresting him after Judge Anthony Mrima sentenced him.

“In the further event the IG of Police fails to execute the warrant, the same shall remain valid and be executed anytime including when Kinoti leaves the office of the DCI,” ruled Justice Anthony Mrima.