A Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officer has faulted the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) for terminating a case against Justice Sankale ole Kantai.
John Gachomo, a senior assistant Inspector General of Police, accused the ODPP that is headed by Noordin Haji, of illegally terminating investigations against the appellate judge who was cleared of any wrongdoing in August.
“The DPP can only terminate criminal proceedings instituted by his office and not criminal investigations being undertaken by DCI while exercising its constitutional mandate,” court papers read.
According to Mr Gachomo, the ODPP is yet to communicate what evidence was lacking in the investigation file to inform the decision to drop charges against the judge.
Further, the officer claimed that judge Sankale actively participated in the planning and cover up of the murder of Tob Cohen.
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It has in the past been alleged that the judge was indeed in a clandestine affair with Cohen’s widow, Sarah Wairimu who is facing murder charges.
Mr Gachomo claimed that the judge and Wairimu met on various occasions to plan the murder of the late Dutch tycoon.
The judge, Mr Gachomo stated, transferred the late Silas Itas’ share to himself and later to Sarah Wairimu.
“That investigations further revealed that Cohen never instructed the judge to act for him or his company, hence transfer of the said share was unknown to Cohen,” he adds.
It is upon the discovery of this fraudulent transaction that Mr Cohen was killed, the officer says in court documents.
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The officer also averred that from July 17-19, 2019 when Cohen was expected to respond to the Registrar of Companies, communication between judge Sankale and Wairimu intensified.
“The petitioner portrays the late Tob Cohen as a client and close confidant who entrusted him with a share in his investment yet investigation by DCI found no evidence of contact or association between the petitioner and the Cohen,” court papers read.
In August, days after DPP dropped charges against him, judge Sankale sued Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai and DCI boss George Kinoti.
In a petition filed at the Milimani Law Courts, the judge said his arrest brought him shame and was injurious to his reputation.
“The respondents’ actions have affected my work life and I cannot hear and determine matters where the respondents are parties without fear of intimidation,” he said.
Read Also: Justice Sankale Kantai Arrested In Connection With Tob Cohen’s Murder
The judge who reported to the DCI a total of 12 times since his arrest in 2020 said several of his constitutional rights were violated in the process; He was deprived of his freedom without a just cause, his privacy was invaded without and his dignity was violated.
“I should not have been arrested in the first place if the respondents did not have any evidence connecting me to the murder of Tob Cohen,” he said.
Apart from seeking payment in general damages, the judge also sought to have police prohibited from unnecessarily arresting him again, and a permanent injunction issued against them from using any information they gleaned from his phone.
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