NAIROBI, Kenya Aug 18 – The state said Tuesday it is still determined to charge former Garsen Member of Parliament Danson Mungatana with fraud, despite ongoing talks to settle the matter out of court with the complainant.
Mungatana and his co-accused Paul Waweru are accused of obtaining money by false pretense from a businesswoman, they had claimed they will help secure a Sh70 million supplies tender at the military headquarters.
It is the woman and her friends who called police when Mungatana and Waweru were meeting them at a Nairobi hotel last week, where they are said to have demanded more money. The women said they had given Waweru Sh1 million and he called them to introduce them to an ‘influential’ person helping them secure the tender.
But she smelt a rat and reported the matter at the Military Headquarters where she was informed that the tender documents she had given were fake.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations were then called in and picked up Mungatana and Waweru who were arraigned on Tuesday.
Presiding Magistrate Abdul Lorot was told that Mungatana and his co-accused waweru had already entered into an agreement, and that they required more time to have it settled.
However, the prosecution through Nancy Ongere told the court that the state is also a complainant and was keen on pressing criminal charges against the two.
The magistrate will make a ruling Wednesday on whether the two should take a plea or be allowed to finalise their talks with the complainant.
The prosecution had already lined up 15 counts against Mungatana and his co-accused which includes conspiracy to defraud, making false documents and obtaining money by false pretense.