 |
| Judge Kalpana Rawal |
The family of former Internal Security Minister George Saitoti on Monday got orders stopping a team investigating the helicopter crash that killed him from concluding the inquiry.
They demanded that results of an examination on four components of the helicopter which were taken to Europe be in the final report.
High Court judge George Odunga granted the stay orders pending the hearing of the family’s application.
This means the report on the June 10, 2012 crash will not be presented to President Kibaki anytime soon.
The commission, led by Appeals Court judge Kalpana Rawal, has virtually completed its work and was getting ready to present its report.
Saitoti family lawyer Tom Macharia asked the court to certify the matter as urgent since the report was already being prepared.
He said the family’s objection was caused by the fact that some crucial components of the helicopter were sent abroad for further examination but the findings had not been submitted to the commission.
Mr Macharia said omitting these findings would dent the report’s credibility.
Impartial inquiry
“Four crucial components were sent to the United Kingdom and Canada but the findings have not been submitted to the commission. We have learnt that the report is being prepared without these findings,” he said.
He told the court that the purpose of the inquiry was to establish if the crash was an accident or was caused by other factors.
“Failing to include the findings in the report will go against expectation that the commission should be conducting an impartial inquiry,” Mr Macharia said.
He said though the term of the commission had come to an end, it would not suffer any prejudice if it was stopped from presenting its findings but the family would if an impartial report was handed over.
The crash in Ngong Forest also claimed the lives of assistant Internal Security minister Orwa Ojode, bodyguards Joshua Tonkei and Thomas Murimi and the crew, captains Nancy Gituanja and Luke Oyugi.
The team investigated the procurement, storage and handling of the helicopter, possible cause of the crash and make recommendations.
Mr Justice Odunga directed the lawyer to serve the parties ahead of the hearing set for Wednesday.
