16/10/2013 The Fake skeletons that were imponded by KRA at Mombasa port were said to be of a politician(Omingo Magara)
Former assistant minister Omingo Magara yesterday however denied that he owned any skeletons imported from China.
He said Kenya Revenue Authority should have immediately revealed that the Village Market in Nairobi had written to them claiming the goods were to be used in their Halloween celebrations.
Last week Commissioner of Customs Beatrice Memo told the media that the impounded imitation skeletons and other ghostly items belonged to "a senior politician and former assistant minister from Nyanza".
The former MP for South Mugirango said the description "fits him" and he needed to clear his name of "vicious and malicious" allegations.
Magara explained that his wife Agnes Nyanchoma Manare imported household items from China and declared them.
However he said the freight agent consolidated the goods of six other importers into the same 40 foot container impounded in Mombasa last week.
"It is true that my wife imported items from China. But those items shown do not belong to me and they do not also belong to any member of my family," he said at a press conference at the Nairobi Serena yesterday.
"I am wondering why the commissioner said that the items declared did not correspond to the items belonging to senior politician. Declaration is not done by an importer. It is done by the importing agent," he said.
He also denied going into hiding after being summoned by the police in Mombasa.
"Who has sent the summons? To whom were they sent?" he asked.
"I have consulted my lawyers and instructed them to seek an apology from KRA and commissioner Memo, failure to which, we shall move to court to seek legal redress and damages," Magara said in the presence of his lawyer Cliff Ombeta.
The letter from Village Market, through Market Masters Ltd to KRA, confirmed the items belong to them.
"We confirm that indeed we have ordered for the Halloween decorative items imported from China in container number PCIU 8125750 are not restricted items," wrote Managing Director Hemed Ehsani.
"Just like during Easter Holidays or Christian Season, the items in question are solely used for decorating the entire shopping center for our Halloween Parties held within Village Market," said Ehsani.
Halloween is an ancient European festival celebrated on October 31 to remember the dead.
Ehsani said the "old items" at the market were "worn out" and needed to be replaced for its Halloween party on October 26.
"Please accord our clearing agents all the necessary assistance to deliver the items to us needed at the earliest," he said.
[The star]