Ex-CS Echesa Allowed More Time to Appear Before Court 

Former sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa was Monday granted more time to appear in a court in a case where the High Court directed that the Sh39 billion fake arms scam he is involved in be heard again before the magistrate’s court.

This is after Echesa failed to appear in court saying that he is bereaved.

His lawyers asked the court to allocate a trial court to hear the matter.

The matter will be mentioned on March 28.

Echesa’s co-accused who appeared in court on Monday were directed to deposit cash bail in order to be free pending determination of the matter.

Justice Kanyi Kimondo had ruled that the prosecution had presented a strong case against Echesa and that the trial court should have found him with a case to answer and require him to defend himself rather than acquitting him and directing that the case be taken back for trial.

Kimondo delivered the judgment, stating that the trial magistrate had erred in acquitting Echesa due to a lack of testimony from certain witnesses.

Kimondo ruled that the prosecution had presented a strong case against Echesa and that the trial court should have found him with a case to answer, thus requiring him to defend himself rather than acquitting him.

Echesa had been charged alongside Daniel Otieno, Clifford Okoth, Kennedy Oyoo and Chrispin Oduor Odipo with conspiring to commit a felony, making a document without authority, obtaining money by false pretense, attempting to commit a felony, and uttering a false document in the Sh39 billion fake arm scandal.