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Court spares Jeff Koinange and Tony Gachoka Sh2m contempt fine

By MAUREEN KAKAH February 28th, 2017 1 min read

Former KTN talk show host Jeff Koinange and businessman Tony Gachoka will no longer be fined or jailed for linking Jimmi Wanjigi’s company to the Anglo Leasing scandal.

In a ruling delivered by High Court judge Roselyne Aburili on Monday, the two got a reprieve after she declared that the Sh2 million fine or six months jail term imposed on them as unlawful.

The two had been dragged to court by Mr Wanjigi, Sani Mbui Wanjigi and Kwacha Group of Companies Limited for holding talks about them on the defunct JKL show despite being stopped by a court from doing so.

WRONGLY IMPOSED

According to the judge, the fine was wrongly imposed by Senior Resident Magistrate Maisy Chesang and also violated their right to a fair trial.

“The procedure is that after you find someone guilty, you are supposed to give them a chance to mitigate before punishing them,” Lady Justice Aburili said.

The Wanjigis had in June 2015 obtained an order barring the talks on Anglo leasing touching on them from being discussed in the said show.

They had claimed that the two had acted contrary to the issued order hence successfully managed to have them cited for contempt.

FAILED TO APPEAR

The order had been issued when Mr Koinange failed to appear in court and his lawyer had claimed that he was out of the country at the time.

As a result, a warrant of arrest was issued that saw Mr Koinange arrested, arraigned in court and freed on a Sh100, 000 cash bail.

Despite the reprieve over their conviction, they are still facing a defamation suit against them from the Wanjigis.