Judge narrates how she declined Sh50m bribe

A High Court judge has narrated how she boldly rejected a Sh50 million bribe advanced to her by a city tycoon and threatened to jail the person immediately.

Judge Asenath Ongeri was at the city court handling a property case when the money was put on the table to manipulate her decision-making.

In her book, The Making of a Judge, the judge says the case involved a property owner in Nairobi who was arraigned and charged with erecting illegal structures, and who had pleaded guilty.

In mitigation, his lawyer had asked for leniency and had promised to promptly demolish all the unauthorised structures.

Later that evening, there had been mayhem, hue and cry, the book reads in part.

It later turned out that the businessman had wanted to remove squatters from his property to make way for a high-rise building.

He was not the one who had constructed the structures, the judge discovered.

From that time, the judge says she decided to handle the case with caution.

City court had the authority to dispose of property worth billions of shillings if rates had not been paid.

The five files remained on her desk for a couple of weeks.

“One morning, a lawyer came to the office. It was a cold morning, during El Niño rains experienced that year. I still vividly recall his visit because despite the bad weather, he was wearing a shirt without a jacket and was sweating profusely,” it reads.

The man was carrying a big briefcase and was all smiles as he entered the office. He then said he had brought the judge a lunch of Sh250,000 and more was to follow if she cooperated with the plotters.

“Put that briefcase away before I jail you,” the judge told the lawyer, and he removed the briefcase from the table and started narrating the story about the mysterious files.

“The lawyer told me that a certain property owner, a golf course, which ran from Muthaiga to Aga Khan, and belonged to a charitable organisation, had been sued for non-payment of rates.”

“But charitable organisations don’t pay rates,” I told him.

“That’s where your role comes in,” he said.

The lawyer told her that the property had been subdivided. Titles were issued.

“The only thing in the way of the sale and occupation is your signature,” the lawyer told the judge.

“The affidavits of service are fake,” he said.

“You’re fully covered. Nobody will point a finger at you. All the paperwork has been finalised. Your cut is Sh50 million, but it’s negotiable, payable upfront.”

And if I wanted, the judge narrates, an account opened and the money deposited there, it would be done pronto.

“He also said that if I wanted the money in a foreign country, in an offshore account, it could be done. As in, all contingencies had been taken care of.”

The judge declined saying “I’m not interested.”

“I told the lawyer to leave my office with his lunch, then I reported the matter,” she said.

Despite reporting to the police, no action was taken against the bribe merchants.

The lawyer made a follow-up and narrated to her an incident where a woman working as a secretary in a government institution was adamant like her and refused to cooperate in a similar deal.

The book says the matter ended up in court and on the day the woman was going to testify in court, she died in a road traffic accident.

“I told him I’d rather die than be involved in corrupt deals.”

By Star