Court summons detective in missing Belgian’s case
Justice Teresia Matheka who issued summons against Sgt Franklin Kiraithe.
What you need to know:
- The detective is also required to explain whether or not he is still interested in pursuing the case.
- The officer did not appear in court Monday after it emerged that the first summons had not been properly served.
- Orders issued on January 16 required Mr Kiraithe to release a vehicle belonging to Ms Lesoipa which was confiscated from lawyer Hari Gakinya.
- Mr Gakinya is currently facing murder charges at the High Court in Nairobi.
A court in Nakuru has summoned a detective investigating the whereabouts of missing Belgium national Dysseleer Mireille Lesoipa to explain the status of his investigations after being silent for several months.
Justice Teresia Matheka Monday ordered that Sgt Franklin Kiraithe, a detective from the Serious Crimes Investigations Unit of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, be properly served with orders summoning him to appear in court to explain whether or not he is still interested in pursuing the case and why he has not complied with orders earlier issued by the court.
The orders, which were issued on January 16, required Mr Kiraithe to release a vehicle belonging to Ms Lesoipa which was confiscated from a Nakuru-based lawyer Hari Gakinya.
Mr Gakinya is currently facing murder charges at the High Court in Nairobi after he was accused of conspiring to kill Ms Lesoipa in order to inherit her property, estimated to be valued at Sh100 million.
Police began investigations after a whistle blower made a report of a succession matter that was filed by Mr Gakinya at the Family Division of the High Court in Nakuru, seeking to be made the administrator of Ms Lesoipa’s estate after alleging that she died after a long illness.
Fraud suspicion
The officer, who successfully petitioned to have the succession matter halted on suspicion of fraud, has not gone back to court to explain the progress of his investigations.
He had also obtained orders allowing him to detain the impounded vehicle for 21 days to conclude investigations and thereafter release it to the lawyer.
But lawyer Joseph Karanja Mbugua, who was appointed to represent Mr Gakinya in the succession matter, told the court that the vehicle is yet to be released and that Mr Kiraithe has not served him with a report of compliance with court orders.
He persuaded the court to issue orders summoning the officer to appear on October 5 to explain why he has not complied.
The officer did not appear in court Monday after it emerged that the first summons had not been properly served.
Send orders via email
Justice Matheka directed that the orders be sent to his official email address to ensure that he gets them and responds accordingly.
Ms Lesoipa, who arrived at the Coast in 1993, married Samburu dancer Emmanuel Lesoipa but they later separated in 2004.
She moved to Nakuru in 2018 but went missing in mid-2019.
Police suspect that she was murdered in a plan hatched by Mr Gakinya and her friend Lucy Waithera Njuguna.
The two suspects have denied the murder charges and are out on bond.
Mr Gakinya, in his petition seeking to be granted administration rights, told the court that Ms Lesoipa had named him the executor of her will in which he was also among the beneficiaries of the estate.
But Mr Kiraithe told the court that police had established that the documents used to file the case were unauthentic and they were still conducting investigations before pressing criminal charges against the lawyer and his accomplices.
