Kenya Insights

Tag: Ayub Savula

  • Blow To Savula As Court Refuses To Expunge Murdered Witness’s Evidence In Sh122M Fraud Case

    Blow To Savula As Court Refuses To Expunge Murdered Witness’s Evidence In Sh122M Fraud Case

    Former Broadcasting and Telecommunication PS Sammy Itemere and Lugari MP Ayub Savula have suffered a blow after a Nairobi magistrate declined to expunge the evidence of former National Land Commission official Jennifer Wambua, who has since died.

    Chief Magistrate Wendy Micheni, however, dismissed their arguments saying the evidence was admissible in court as there was no particular provision to expunge from the record evidence that was lawfully and procedurally admitted by the court.

    According to the Magistrate, death or sickness before cross examination does not stop the evidence in chief from being admissible though its weight may be slight.

    “Under the circumstances the court finds the evidence adduced by the witness before the court shall remain on record and shall not be expunged, however the weight to rely on the said evidence will be less compared to when it would have been tested through cross examination,” Magistrate ruled.

    Wambua was murdered in March this year and her body dumped in a thicket in Ngong, before being taken to City mortuary.

    Before her death, she had testified in the case against Itemere, Savula and other persons facing charges in relation to the theft of Sh200 million from the Government Advertising Agency (GAA).

    The accused persons wanted her evidence discarded because they had not gotten a chance to cross-examine her on the testimony. They argued that the failure to cross-examine her would prejudice them and infringe on their rights to a fair trial.

    It was their contention that cross-examination would have enabled them to test the evidence of Wambua and the court to determine her credibility and veracity of the testimony she gave

  • KRA goes after Savula over Sh473 in unpaid taxes

    KRA goes after Savula over Sh473 in unpaid taxes

    Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is in pursuit of Lugari MP Ayub Savula whose publication is owing the them more than Sh473 million in unpaid taxes emanating from business deals signed with various State agencies between 2013 and 2017.

    Sunday Publishers which belongs to Savula was awarded contracts by Energy ministry, National Land Commission, National Hospital Insurance Fund, Nairobi, Migori and Mombasa counties.

    The controversial lawmaker has been ordered by High Court judge David Majanja to get a bank guarantee of Sh10 million, within 45 days, as a condition to bar KRA from forfeiting assets belonging to his publication. KRA wants the court to allow them seize assets belonging to the publication which they will later auction to recover the amount they are owed.

    Savula moved to court to seek an injuction barring KRA from executing a judgment of the Tax Appeals Tribunal which gave the taxman go ahead to seize his assets and recover the money. The court heard that the Lugari Mp had only paid Sh3 million and was promising to pay another Sh3 million.

    Lugari MP Ayub Savula (far right) when he appeared in court with his co-accused [p/courtesy]

    “I find that the security of Sh3 million being proposed by the appellant (Savula) insufficient and too low considering the tax liability at stake. Security of Sh10 million in the form of a bank guarantee from a reputable bank would be most appropriate taking into account the circumstances of the case,” Justice Majanja ruled.

    Mr Savula who claimed that his publication does not have any liquidity to furnish the security in one instalment also pleaded with the court for leniency arguing that some of his documents had been confiscated by various investigative agencies. The publication which is embroiled in many legal battles was forced to halt its operations after it became too expensive to run.

    The lawmaker has been courting controversies since 2018 when he implicated in a Sh2.5 billion scandal with 18 other accomplices at the Government Advertising Agency (GAA) where they were charged and released on bail.

    Some of the 18 accused persons included his two wives (Gatwiri Ringera & Hellen Kemboi) and the former Broadcasting and Telecommunication PS Sammy Itemere. Savula and the gang stole Sh122,335, 500 at GAA using dubious companies.

     

     

  • Ayub Savula: Muluka And His Fictitious Handlers Misleading Musalia Mudavadi

    Ayub Savula: Muluka And His Fictitious Handlers Misleading Musalia Mudavadi

    Once prominent NASA hypeman, founder and ANC Party Leader Musalia Mudavadi alias MaDvD, has handed his political journey and career to fictitious people with ‘book history’ calling themselves advisors- a political hogwash move that has rendered him non-viable since the birth of UhuRaila Handshake.