The Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) Noordin Haji has filed a petition to revoke a court order granting the release of five vehicles belonging to former Sports CS Rashid Echesa.
Through a petition filed at the High Court, Haji has indicated that the vehicles are being held in pursuant to Section 26(C) of the criminal procedure code.
For instance, Haji justified the seizing of the vehicles on grounds that the state is mandated to search and seize items acquired unlawfully.
Further, Haji wants to file more charges based on the two firearms that were held depending on the report that will be submitted by the Firearm Licensing Bureau. The firearms had been submitted for verification and the results are yet to be released since COVID-19 pandemic slowed down the process.
Read: Court Orders DCI To Release Five Vehicles Belonging To Ex-Sports CS Echesa
“The State intends to initiate further charges in lieu of the two firearms depending on the report the Chairman, Firearm Licensing Bureau will submit and the charges shall be rendered futile if the said firearms are released to the respondent,” Haji stated.
In a ruling by a Kiambu magistrate court on Wednesday, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) was ordered to release five vehicles that belonged to Echesa.
Senior Principal Magistrate Stella Atembo ruled that the motor vehicles were seized without “any support or any law of order of the court with sufficient reasons contravenes the constitution which provides for the right to private property and opportunity to be heard.”
The vehicled were impounded following Echesa’s arrest at his Karen home. They included a Passat KAY 388A, KBZ 009J Toyota LandCruiser V8 and KBN 242N Toyota Mark X which were said to have belonged to a Kisumu resident, Esther Kabura.
Kabura accused the former minister of stealing her late husband’s Sh12 million luxury vehicles in 2016.
Read Also: Court Orders DCI To Release Range Rover, Firearms Confiscated From Ex-CS Echesa
The widow told a local daily that Echesa promised to look after her deceased spouse’s vehicles as she was involved in a family tussle.
A month into the arrangement, the ex CS is said to have started ducking her calls forcing her to report the matter to the police. She filed a complaint under OB number 58/11/16.
Echesa is also a prime suspect in the Ksh39 billion firearms deal that was allegedly brokered at the Deputy President William Ruto’s Harambee Annex House office.
