The Senior Counsel was on Friday afternoon arrested at an undisclosed location within Nairobi over a Ksh200 million scandal at Mumias Sugar Company. This was after DPP Noordin Haji approved his arrested.
Soon after his arrest, Lawyers from the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) led by his lawyer Nelson Havi criticised the move, saying that the arrest was a violation of his constitutional rights.
“It is easy to see through the ploy by the DCI and the DPP in arresting Professor Tom Ojienda on a Friday afternoon: hold him over the weekend; procure warrants to search his homes and offices in his absence; and violate his constitutional rights in the process. Justice on trial!” tweeted Havi.
It is yet to be known the conditions of his release from police cells, where he was supposed to be arraigned in court tomorrow.
Prof Ojienda has been involved in a rigorous court battle with Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA. The taxman is demanding that the lawyer pays Ksh443.6 million in tax arrears.
High Court Judge Wilfrida Okwany directed that KRA issue a tax compliance certificate, a ruling that KRA has since appealed against.
The professor is running for the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) male representative to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
Ojienda had termed the charges against him as “a big joke and reeks of malice”.
“These charges sound like a big joke and reeks of malice, bad faith and flies in the face of the fundamental duty of an Advocate to receive instructions and charge fees from a client,” Ojienda said.
Read: Charges Against Me Are A Big Joke And Malicious – Tom Ojienda Says
In a statement, the lawyer has said that he has neither been questioned nor recorded a statement pertaining to the Ksh200 million loss at Mumias Sugar Company.
“I am a person of integrity and honour. During the alleged investigations, no statement was sought from me and none has been sought from me thus far. All my records and instructions with Mumias Sugar Company are intact,” he said.
He has been accused of uttering false documents, obtaining money under false pretenses and conspiracy to defraud.
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