Herbalist Stephen Vicker Mangira has taken his fight with the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) to the High Court, after beating accusations of money laundering, drug trafficking and terrorism financing.
Mr Mangira now wants the court to order that his Sh18.5 million and several cars held by ARA, and are the subject of forfeiture proceedings, be released to him.
Through lawyer Kinyua Kamundi, he argues that since he has been acquitted, the items should be released to him, adding that ARA did not seek any order to hold the exhibits after their acquittal.
“Continuing to hold the exhibits after acquittal suggests and implies that Mr Mangira was still guilty,” Mr Kamundi said.
Refusing to release the exhibits, he argues, constitutes an illegal seizure of the property and a violation of the presumption of innocence.
“The finding by a competent court that he is innocent does not leave any room for the seizure of the property of an innocent person. This is because a person cannot be both innocent and guilty at the same time,” he said.
Mr Mangira moved to the High Court barely a month after a Shanzu court acquitted him of 12 counts of drug trafficking, money laundering and having suspected unlawfully obtained property. He was charged alongside three others.
Mr Mangira testified in the criminal case that he is a registered herbalist and he made his money through the work.
To facilitate his business, he said, he gets his herbs from forests and mountains or as directed by “angels”.
The herbalist has clients in Kenya and across the world who have appreciated his work by giving him cash or awarding him expensive vehicles to cover the cost of treatment, court records show.
Mr Mangira told Shanzu Chief Magistrate Florence Macharia, who handled the criminal case, that he was with his 10-year-old son when he was ambushed and arrested by police officers and agents from National Intelligence Service.
He was to meet some friends at Reef Hotel, and because his son enjoyed swimming, he booked a room there. He had Sh20 million, out of which Sh600,000 was to be paid as school fees for his son.
“The money was in two bags in the boot of my vehicle,” he said. Mr Mangira recalled that police demanded to search his vehicle and arrested him when they found the money.
He denied knowing his co-accused Nabil Loo Mohamed, Bakari k. Bakari and Lilian Martin before they were arrested and arraigned in 2017.
He told the magistrate that police took the entire Sh20 million but presented only Sh18.5 million in court as the only money that had been seized from him.
He denied engaging in any criminal acts and explained that he obtained his wealth from his clients, who gave him money and vehicles after they were satisfied with his services.
“The police proceeded to my home in Kericho after I was arrested and seized all my vehicles. I surrendered all the logbooks of the eight vehicles to the police as one of the conditions to be granted bond,” he said.
Mr Mangira denied being in possession of drugs, funding terrorism or money laundering and that his wealth was not proceeds of crime.
“All my vehicles were being used as taxis and I was in the process of registering them as public service vehicles at the time I was arrested. My business extended to South Africa and my wealth was as a result of my profession as a herbalist,” he said.
After he was arrested and charged, ARA obtained court orders freezing all his bank accounts.
Prosecutors called 19 witnesses in an attempt to prove the 12 offences that Mr Mangira and his three co-accused were facing.
They claimed Mr Mangira obtained his wealth, including the vehicles, through proceeds of crime by trafficking in narcotics.
The three were arrested after an intelligence report was shared that they were engaging in illegal drug peddling in Nyali, prosecutors said.
Amos Ong’era, who was at the time attached to DCI Special Crime Unit, testified that upon receiving the intelligence, police rushed to Nyali and arrested Mr Mohamed, whom they found standing next to his vehicle.
“A search conducted on the said vehicle revealed a black polythene paper and... several documents,” Mr Ongera said. Mr Mohamed then led them to the other suspects, where the money and heroin worth Sh1.62 million was allegedly found.
At the end of the trial, the court found that prosecutors had failed to prove all the 12 criminal offences levelled against the four suspects.
On the charge of drug trafficking, the court ruled that prosecutors needed to prove that two or all the accused persons agreed to put into effect a scheme with the ultimate aim of trafficking in narcotic drugs.
On money laundering, the court noted that prosecutors had failed to prove that the suspects committed an offence and then directly or indirectly benefited from it.
“Mr Bakari said in his defence that he was a prophet and the money he had was obtained through his work as a prophet. The prosecution should have sought time to verify the allegations,” the magistrate said.
“Some of these so-called prophets are very rich. Their source of wealth can only be impeached if competent complainants lodge their complaints with the police,” she added.
“Prior to that, this court shall only deal with valid competent cases before it. I believe I have said enough to show that this charge (money laundering) has not been proved beyond reasonable doubt.”
In the case of Mr Mangira, prosecutors had argued that he could not explain the source of his wealth. Mike Muya, a key State witness, said that when investigators went to Mr Mangira’s home in Kericho, they could not find any source of such wealth.
Investigators said that in the course of their investigations, they had found that Mr Mangira, when he opened a bank account, had indicated that his annual return was Sh30 million.
But when they visited his farm, they discovered that it only had pineapples and vegetables.
“It was thus our decision to have Mr Mangira charged with money laundering,” Mr Muya said.
To prove the source of his wealth, Mr Mangira produced a certificate from National Traditional Health Practitioners Association, showing that he was a member in good standing, and said he acquired his many vehicles through trade-in.
“Based on the foregoing, the court is prepared to believe the narration by Mr Mangira as to how he got his money. I agree with his submissions that witchcraft is not an offence as long as no fear or injury is caused or threatened,” the magistrate said.
Ms Macharia also explained that the Witchcraft Act is only meant to curb acts that are injurious to people. The Act was enacted in 1925.
“The totality of the above analysis is that the court is not satisfied that the prosecution has proved its case against the accused persons in all the counts,” she said.
Though Mr Mangira, Mr Bakari and Mr Mohamed were acquitted, the public prosecutor has obtained permission from the High Court to appeal against the decision outside the 14 days required under the law.
