Wednesday May 11, 2022
A presidential candidate in the Somalia elections has urged
the High Court sitting in Nairobi to order for the release of his passport to
enable him fly to Mogadishu and conduct campaigns as he seeks the country’s top
job.
Mohamed Yassin Ismael, 71, who has a pending Sh4million
fraud case before the Makadara law courts urged Justice Grace Nzioka to direct
the court deputy registrar to give him his passport since the suit has been
settled.
Ismael is a Djibouti Citizen who is married to a Kenyan lady
Sahara Yassin Mohamed since 2003 and have been blessed with eight children aged
between 9-17.
Lawyer Dr John Khaminwa who is defending him , urged the
judge to dispose of the case expeditiously since ‘time is of essence as
competitors in the hotly contested Somalia presidential polls are busy
soliciting for votes’
“The presidential hopeful has asked me to inform this court
that once he clinches Somalia’s top seat he will root for the country to become
a member of the East African Community,” said Dr Khaminwa.
He added that the petitioner has also promised not to pursue
the Kenya/Somali boundary dispute thus resolving the stand-off over the fishing
waters in the Indian Ocean.
Dr Khaminwa said Ismael ‘is being subjected to the rigorous
criminal justice system in the Makadara case despite the parties having opted
to an out of court settlement’.
The veteran advocate told the judge the money which is
subject of the case before Makadara Law Courts arises from a civil debt where
Ismael was advanced US Dollars ($)40,000 (KSh4million) by a trader Guleed Kuno
Mursai to purchase a house.
Justice Nzioka heard Ismael has a 10-acre parcel of land in
Syokimau Machakos County valued over Sh800million and therefore the civil debt
is taken care off.
The judge heard despite the parties having settled the
matter, the Director of Public Prosecutions(DPP) Noordin Haji has declined to
consent to the withdrawal of the case.
“The dispute resolution was brokered by Somali Elders and
the mode of payment agreed upon but the suit has been converted to a criminal
dispute for ulterior motives,” the lawyer told court.
The veteran lawyer added ‘the complainant conscientiously
agreed to the withdrawal of the complaint against Ismael’.
The judge was prevailed upon to determine the matter since
,’Ismael seeks to participate in the Somalian Presidential Elections slated for
May 20,2022.”
In the case Ismael has named the DPP, the Director of
Criminal Investigations (DCI), the National Police Service (NPS), the Attorney
General and the Public Service Commission (PSC) as respondents.
“Ismael be allowed to obtain his passport confiscated by the
respondents to enable him to urgently travel to Turkey for medication and to
participate in the presidential polls slotted for May 20 2022,” urged Dr
Khaminwa.
Further the petitioner is urging the court to mark the case
pending before the Makadara Law Courts as withdrawn.
The judge heard that the respondents are allegedly colluding
with others to politically frustrate the candidature of the petitioner.
The case did not however proceed since the state prosecutor
in the case had joined other prosecutors for an internal event at the office of
the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).
A circular from a deputy registrar of the high court Ms A
Mwicigi to accused persons stated from May 9-12,2022 prosecutors won’t be
available to handle court matters.