By WANGECHI WANG'ONDU
Two Kirinyaga county government officials accused in a bribery case finally took plea on Friday after two years and eight months.
Samuel Mwangi Muriithi and Joseph Muriithi Njeru were arraigned before a Kerugoya magistrate.
They denied all the five counts of offences they are accused to have committed in October 11, 2018.
Mwangi is a director in charge of alcoholic drinks while Njeru is the Kirinyaga Central subcounty administrator.
They were charged with soliciting bribe, receiving bribe, abuse of office and conspiring to commit an offence of corruption .
"On or about the 11th day of October 2018 at Divas in Karatina, Nyeri county, you requested for financial advantage of Sh303,000 shillings from one Joseph Njoroge Kariuki, which request constitute the improper performance by you of your functions," the charge sheet shows.
The plea was preceded by a ruling in which chief magistrate A.K Ithuku dismissed an application by the suspects to bar the Director of Public Prosecutions from using Joseph Njoroge Kariuki as a witnesses.
Njoroge is the suspected giver of the bribe.
Both Mwangi and Njeru accused the DPP of witch hunt, saying the prosecutor was out to achieve an ulterior motive.
The magistrate said the application lacked merit.
“It is not uncommon for the DPP to use an accused as a witness. All he needs to show is that he is acting in public interest for the administration of justice and is not abusing the legal process. As to whether the DPP acted without jurisdiction is a matter of judicial review. It is not for this court to issue such orders but is a preserve of the high court.," Ithuku ruled.
He added, “Allegations of discrimination is not sufficient as the court has not taken evidence in support of the charges thus it is difficult and premature to determine whether the charges are malicious or brought in bad faith. This will come out when the matter is heard.”
Defence lawyer Ndegwa Njiru said he will be seeking for the interpretation of the high court over the DPP’s action.
“Even though the DPP has the power of making a choice on whom to charge and who not to charge, if he makes a decision not to charge, then he cannot choose who to charge and who to leave out. All must be equal beneficiaries of that law,” Njiru said.
The prosecution did not oppose the release of the suspects on bond. However, it requested the court to give strong bail terms owing to the serious nature of the crimes.
The accused were granted Sh500,000 bond each with surety of a similar amount. The case will be mentioned on May 26 when the prosecution will also update the court on the status of documents requested by the defence lawyers.
Edited by P.O
