A Naivasha court has issued a warrant for the arrest and the extradition of a couple living in the US to face charges of conspiring to murder five members of their family.
The court said Amos Wanjiru and his wife, Alice Muya, had ignored court summonses for nearly two years.
The two are jointly charged alongside their 73-year-old father, Francis Muya, with five counts of conspiracy to murder family members, including their mother.
The farmer, Muya has already been charged that on diverse dates between 1st March and 2nd May 2024, jointly with others not in court, he hired killers at a cost of over Ksh3m to murder his estranged wife, Rose Njeri Muya.
He also faces four other charges of conspiracy to murder Antony Mwaura, Martin Muya, Alex Muya and Oprah Muya, the farmers’ three sons and a daughter respectively.
In his ruling, Naivasha Chief Magistrate Abdulqadir Ramathan termed the charges facing the couple and their father as very serious.
He noted that despite the defence counsel on various occasions assuring the court that the couple would appear in court, this had never materialised.
The magistrate gave the Office of Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP) the go-ahead to work with the US government in extraditing the two so that they could face the charges.
“The court gave the couple every opportunity to present themselves but they failed and I agree with the prosecution that this court should take decisive action and issue a warrant of arrest,” he said.
Efforts by the defence counsel Edwin Njagi to have the arrest orders stayed for 45 days were declined by the court which advised him to seek legal redress in the High Court.
The prosecutor Joseck Abwajo told the court that the defence team, despite promising to avail the two accused on several occasions, had failed to do so.
He said that of the three accused, only the father had been charged with the case delaying for over two years as the court waited for the couple to be arraigned in court.
In the case, the man with the help of his daughter and son-in-law, allegedly hired killers to assist in getting rid of the family members so that they could take over the prime plot in Molo town.
According to documents filed in court, the alleged plot began on March 1, 2024, when Francis Muya and his daughter, Alice Muya, are said to have met two suspected hitmen at a hotel in Nakuru.
The court documents indicate that the parties agreed on a fee of KSh3.1 million for the killings. Investigators allege that the money was subsequently raised and delivered through the father and daughter.
The case will come up for mention on the 28th of July.
