James Mugo Ndichu alias Mugo wa Wairimu who made headlines in 2015 after he was accused of running an illegal clinic in Githurai 44 where he stupefied and raped female patients has denied being Mugo wa Wairimu.
During his defense hearing before Chief Magistrate Wendy Kagendo, Mugo said that his name which is in his national ID is James Mugo Ndichu and finds the alias Mugo wa Wairimu an insult to him.
Mugo also denied ever operating a clinic and or being employed in one.
According to him, he does not have a practising certificate since he has not yet attended the one year internship required before being certified.
The court heard that at the time he was arrested, he was doing a business of selling second-hand clothes in Dagoretti.
He told the court that he attended the University of Nairobi and obtained a Bachelor of Science degree.
“I completed my degree but there was an additional requirement to do a one year internship,” Mugo added.
The accused said that financial constraints during his academic days made him unable to attend his internship and opted to venture into “mtumba” business to save some money for the internship period.
His arrest
During his arrest on 10th September 2015 the accused told the court that he had travelled to Limuru town that day to collect payment for a supply he had made a week earlier.
He then decided to go to a nearby restaurant for some tea.
“While taking my tea, I was joined by two men, one in police uniform and the other one in civilian. They introduced themselves as officer from Tigoni police station,” Mugo said.
He added, “they told me they had come to see me because somebody had told them there was a look a like of one doctor Mugo Wairimu whom they were looking for.”
The accused said he produced his ID and told them that Mugo Wairimu was not his name.
“I am James Mugo Ndichu. I clarified that Mugo Wairimu was not my name,” he added.
Mudo testified that he the officers demanded he follow them to Tigoni police station but he protested.
The officers allegedly told him they had instructions not to leave me behind and that anything else was to be sorted at Tigoni police station.
“I obliged, paid my bill and accompanied them as requested,” he said.
He allegedly accompanied them to Tigoni Police Post and was later taken to DCI Headquarters along Kiambu Road to the head of serious crime unit.
He told the court that the officers handed over his ID and left him with the head of serious crimes unit.
The head of serious crime asked him his full names which I gave as James Mugo Ndichu.
The other suspects
The officer then summoned one of his junior officers and told them to go to the cells and come with a prisoner named Agatha.
“A middle aged brown lady was brought. She was asked to give her full names. She said she was Agatha Kathure. She was asked if she knows me and said no,” the accused said.
The officer went ahead to ask her if Mugo was her employer at Prestige Clinic and she said no.
According to the accused, the officer asked her who the owner of the facility was and she said she owned the facility with two other people whose names she gave as Jeff and Kibet Kibiwott.
It is alleged that the junior officer was asked to go back and bring back a gentleman. She came back with a short guy.
Mugo said the head of serious crimes asked the gentleman his name and he said he was Jeff Maina.
“He asked him if he knows me and he said no. Jeff said I was not his employer at Prestige Clinic.
Jeff allegedly denied ever seeing Mugo working at the said clinic and said hr owbedbthe facility with Agatha Kathure and Kibet Kibiwott.
The junior officer was then asked to brief her senior with the status of the arrest of Kibiwott.
“The officer said he was still at large and that they were still hunting him down since his phone was switched off.
The court heard that Mugo was left alone in the office of the head of serious crimes unit before another senior officer joined him.
The officer allegedly told Mugo that so far they had not been able to link him to the crimes allegedly committed by Mugo wa Wairimu.
“He also informed me that investigations at Kasarani where the matter had been reported had no way of connecting him to the same,” Mugo testified.
Bribery allegations
The accused said the officer proceeded to show him some inventory taken from the clinic and signed by Agatha Kathure and as such, they were treating her as the owner of the facility.
Mugo said that the officer told him he could avoid being taken to court if he cooperated with them. “He told me in Swahili “mtu in kujipanga”.
The court heard that Mugo enquired what the officer meant by the above statement. He said the officer asked him how much he could get so that he could avoid being charged. The officer allegedly told him if he had cash, they would charge Agatha and Jeff since they were self-confessed owners of the clinic.
The accused said he told the officer he was flat broke and the small money he was making from his business was meant to pay for his internship and debt incurred in school.
Mugo said he went ahead to ask him why they could not release him and go on to charge the other people.
“He got annoyed and told me he had over 20 years of experience and I could not teach him how to do his work,” Mugo added.
After interrogation, Mugo was taken to Muthaiga police station where he spent the night.
He added that the following morning on 11th September 2015, he was taken to court where police requested more time to investigate the matter.
Mugo said that at the police station he was questioned about his academic background and whether he could send someone to collect them.
“I was given a phone and I contacted my brother who delivered the documents and the police officers took my degree certificate and four years transcripts,” Mugo claimed.
The accused told the court that what had been produced before court was false evidence.
Mugo added that he found some things done by the officers do not add up.
He questioned why the police did not charge Agatha and Jeff who had admitted to own that facility.
He also questioned why the police did not record statements from them.
In addition, he questioned why the three were not presented as witnesses neither were they charged as suspects even Kathure who signed the inventory.
Mugo accused police the police of failing to get a handwriting expert to compare his handwriting with that of the alleged doctor Mugo wa Wairimu.
Denial
He also alleged that police refused to take his DNA to prove that he was not guilty of the offence of rape.
“I want to put it very clear that I have never operated a medical facilities leave alone Prestige Clinic,” Mugo said.
He added that he does not know the person alleged to have been raped and never had contact with her.
According to Mugo, he has never used any alias in his life neither has he ever introduced himself as Mugo wa Wairimu to anyone.
Mugo was charged with operating a clinic without a valid licence, administering unknown drugs to a person, unlawfully carrying out the business of a Pharmacist yet not registered with the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, using unvalidated medical laboratory reagents and employing unregistered and unlicensed laboratory technologist.
At the end of his testimony, Mugo’s lawyer asks court to give them time to put in written submissions.
The case will be mentioned on 18th October 2022 for directions.
