In a blow to the lawless nouveau riche, those who cannot explain the source of their wealth will no longer hide behind the right to property, the Supreme Court has held

By closing the door on a man who could not explain his wealth, the Supreme Court has now set the bar and might not be entertaining cases already determined by the Court of Appeal – a blow to those with riches acquired through dubious means.

It is also a big victory to the war against graft and the self-styled millionaires with various cases in court have something to worry about. In what is emerging as Kenya’s jurisprudence on greed, the Court of Appeal had previously described unexplained assets as “tainted property” and that such property can only be categorised as “unlawfully acquired” – perhaps one of the biggest victories in the war against graft.

Now, the Supreme Court has weighed in in the matter, placing those with graft cases at the mercy of the High Court and Court of Appeal – where they have to explain their source of wealth of they lose it.

While ruling on a case involving Mr Stanley Amuti, a former finance manager at the National Water Conservation and Pipeline Corporation, the Supreme Court ruled that the matter was not of public interest and does not raise constitutional issues; and as such the highest court had no jurisdiction to hear it