Pubdate: Fri, 07 May 2004 Source: Daily Nation (Kenya) Copyright: 2004 Nation Newspapers Contact: http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/Today/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/868 Author: Wahome Thuku A-G DISMISSES CLAIMS OVER DRUG BARON'S CASH The attorney-general has denied a claim that drug dealer Ibrahim Abdalla Akasha paid school fees for his children. Mr Amos Wako described the allegation, by a witness in the tribunal investigating Appeal Court judge Philip Waki, as untrue and baseless. In a letter to the tribunal's chairman, Mr Justice Akilano Akiwumi, the AG also denied having protected Mr Akasha against criminal prosecutions. The letter was received and stamped by the tribunal on April 28, a day after Mombasa businessman Khurshid Ahmed Butt made the allegation. It was yet to be tabled in proceedings. Mr Butt said the drug dealer had told him he also paid school fees for Chief Justice Bernard Chunga's children and those of Coast police boss James Munyua. Mr Justice Waki is being investigated on alleged misconduct while he served as High Court judge in Mombasa and Nairobi. Mr Butt, the sole complainant in the inquiry, claims the judge was also close to the Akasha family and other personalities who influenced the judiciary. In the three-page letter signed by deputy chief State counsel Horace Okumu, Mr Wako gave details of two criminal cases filed against Mr Akasha and his family members in Mombasa and Nairobi, dating back to 1995. They involve drug trafficking and an assault on Mr Butt in June, 1994. The AG narrated how the cases were investigated and prosecuted. He said the assault case was first prosecuted in 1995 in the Mombasa chief magistrate's court and later transferred to Nairobi. It was first prosecuted by assistant deputy public prosecutor Alex Etyang, who was later appointed High Court judge. Mr Chunga, then the deputy public prosecutor, took over the matter and, in January, 1997, handed it over to his new assistant, Mr Momanyi Bwonwonga. The AG recalled that before handing over, Mr Chunga had also complained of Mr Butt's attitude and claims that all those who handled the matter were corrupt. Yesterday, Mr Butt claimed Mr Justice Waki was appointed to the High Court by influence from a veteran Ukambani politician, the late Mr Mulu Mutisya, and his close friend lawyer, Mr Mutula Kilonzo, who is leading the defence team. Earlier, another witness, Mr Maurice Kioko, said he escorted court clerk Ephantus Muhoro up to the office of Mr Justice Waki's secretary in 1998 when the latter was going to give the judge an envelope containing money. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake