Court orders issued in Murang'a stopping Mwangi wa Iria's arrest delivered to Nairobi by chopper

Former Murang’a Governor Mwangi wa Iria on Wednesday shocked many after he sent a helicopter to the devolved unit to collect court orders barring his arrest and deliver them to a Nairobi court.

In the stunt captured on camera, which has since attracted public criticism and elicited mixed reactions from Kenyans, the chopper is seen landing at Mumbi grounds, causing a stir in the area.

Wa Iria’s lawyer Ndegwa Njiru, who is in possession of the said court orders, is then seen leaving a high-end vehicle and boarding the chopper hurriedly in the company of two other men, after which it takes off.

Wa Iria was set to appear before the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) for questioning into fraud investigations amounting to Ksh.140 million.

He was initially summoned to appear on Tuesday, but his lawyers showed up instead and put in a request for him to be allowed to postpone his appearance to Wednesday.

His co-accused persons including his wife Jane Waigwe Kimani and her brother Solomon Mutura Kimani were however arrested and arraigned before a Nairobi court.

Netizens were quick to react to the incident, with many displeased with the former Governor’s theatrics, as others wondered why the court documents could not just be scanned and sent via mail.

“What happened to the Digitalization of Judiciary and Court systems, scanning the court order and sending it to Nairobi via email could have saved time and resources, or people must be seen!” X user Frank Mtetezi wondered.

Kiprotich Lang’at added: “Judiciary doing its best to ensure corrupt suspects enjoy their loot.”

“During Garissa attack inasemekana hakukuwa na chopper available na sai kuna ya hii mediocre,” Classic Books wrote.

“Using corrupt money to hire a helicopter to prevent yourself from being arrested to answer charges of corruption,” a user Solar Bat noted.