Supreme Court to Hear Petition on Extradition of Samuel Gichuru and Chris Okemo

The Supreme Court is on October 5th set to hear a petition on the extradition of former Cabinet minister Chris Okemo and former Kenya Power managing director Samuel Gichuru to Jersey Island to face graft and money laundering charges.

The apex court is expected to determine who between the Attorney-General and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has the legal authority to commence extradition proceedings in court.

The DPP moved to the Supreme Court after the Appeals Court quashed the extradition of the two former government officials on grounds that the process was wrongly initiated by the DPP. In the appeal, the DPP wants the highest court to reverse the court of appeal's ruling.

The Royal Court of Jersey noted that Gichuru and Okemo received bribes in hard cash amounting to Sh997 million but only Sh526 million was recovered after the rest was wired back to Kenya. After deducting court expenses from the Sh526 million, the remaining Sh444 million was to be repatriated to Kenya. 

Okemo is reported to have used Windward Trading in Jersey as the company that would receive bribes disguised as commissions or consultancy fees from entities that won contracts from Kenya Power. Walbrook Trustees (Jersey) Ltd were the administrators of Windward and would send back the money to Okemo.

If the Supreme Court approves their extradition, Okemo and Gichuru will be charged with corruption and money laundering in Jersey Island, which is part of the British Isles. They face jail terms of up to 14 years if found guilty of the charges leveled against them.

Okemo served in President Moi’s government as the Minister for Energy between 1999 and 2001 while Gichuru was the MD of Kenya Power & Lighting Company between November 1984 and February 2013.