A Kiambu court has dismissed the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP’s) Application seeking to withdraw the manslaughter charges against lawyer Assa Nyakundi.
The DPP had sought to have the manslaughter charges withdrawn and substituted with murder.
The ruling made by Senior Magistrate Teresa Nyangena dismissed the application on the grounds that the alleged new evidence to show they wanted to withdraw the charges was never tendered before the court.
Further, the Senior magistrate indicated that the case is of public interest thus the evidence for murder charges needed to have been tabled before the court failure of which it portrays malice and ill faith of the court process.
Read: Kiambu Judge In Assa Nyakundi’s Case Recuses Herself Ahead Of Hearing
“The view of the court on this is that the DPP in the exercise of his powers has to be open, honest and act in good faith. He does not appear keen in upholding the rule of law, accused’s rights, public interest and strengthening of the criminal justice system,” ruled the court.
According to Senior Magistrate Nyangena, DPP’s powers to discontinue criminal proceedings are not absolute. Therefore, ascertaining that new evidence has been found does not secure reason for the permission of the trial.
“In as much as I would have wished to grant the application by the DPP to discontinue the current proceedings, in view of the all the circus that had dominated the entire process since inception, I’m of the view that the spirit of the law generally, and the Constitution, in particular, must be upheld not only for the sanctity of the judicial system but also for the interest of the pubic and posterity,” she ruled.
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In an incident last year, lawyer Nyakundi was charged for manslaughter after shooting his son Joseph Bogonko to death.
In what seemed like a never-ending twist in the turn of events, the police also decided to treat Assa Nyakundi’s wife Ms Lydia Kunga Apunga, and his son, Mr Noah Onsomu, as persons of interest.
Apparently, the police said that they came to this conclusion claiming that there was an attempted ‘cover-up’ by the two family members close to the city lawyer.
“It is true that the two will be interrogated as persons of interest in our inquiry into the cover-up,” DCI Mr George Kinoti said in May, 2019.
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