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Kenya

Mwau loses bid against Parliament

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 22 – Assistant Minister Harun Mwau on Friday lost a bid to compel Parliament to produce a Hansard report that linked him to a local commercial bank’s criminal activities.

High Court judge Roselyn Wendoh said the court cannot order Parliament to produce such documents to an individual for scrutiny .
   
Justice Wendoh observed that Central Bank of Kenya does not owe Mr Mwau any statutory duty to produce such material.
    
She said the National Assembly Act provides that no civil or criminal proceedings shall be instituted against any member of Parliament for words spoken before or within a report to the assembly or a committee.
   
She observed that section 12 of the Act provides that no proceedings or decision of the assembly of privileges acting in accordance with the act shall be questioned in any court.

“I find that the applicant cannot question the Parliamentary proceedings in this court of law stemming  from the privilege given by Cap 6 laws of Kenya and would not call for the Hansard as prayed," she declared.

Justice Wendoh noted that reports and letters are received confidentially  for purposes of the bank to regulate and control banking business in the country hence no orders sought by Mr Mwau would be available against CBK.

The Kilome MP had moved to court and sought orders to compel former CBK governor Andrew Mullei, Minister of Finance and Clerk of the National Assembly to produce in court all the Hansard proceedings for April 4, 2006 touching on his alleged link to a commercial bank in the country, particularly on commission of diverse criminal offenses.

He had also sought orders to compel the respondents to produce before court for purposes of quashing evidence of all reports and letters written by them regarding tax evasion or investigations against him.

The assistant minister had further urged the court to prohibit the respondents from investigating him in relation to the alleged criminal activities concerning the bank.
   
Mr Mwau had complained that various media publications linked him to a local commercial bank allegedly under investigation and were published by CBK.The publications alleged that he owns the said commercial bank which is linked to criminal activities.
   
The respondents in their defense, denied knowledge of the said investigations, letters or reports and urged the court to strike out the application.

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