A Nairobi court has declined to allow an application by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) seeking to withdraw a Sh 500million land case.
When the matter came for the mention on Friday, chief magistrate Roseline Oganyo said the case should proceed to full hearing because the DPP is not entitled to interfere with the case.
An application by the DPP to withdraw the multi-million shilling Karen land forgery case against lawyer Guy Spencer was opposed by both the defence and the complainant.
The DPP wanted to have the matter started afresh on grounds that there was new evidence from the National Lands Commission (NLC) which he wanted to consider.
“The statements were to be the root cause of this case,” a DPP representative told the court.
Through state counsel Lilian Obuyo, the DPP had told the court that he had also received new evidence from witnesses which he needed to review before filing the case afresh.
“We are seeking to have this case withdrawn so that we can conduct fresh investigations and include new evidence that we have received from NLC,” said Obuyo.
Agnes Kagure, who is claiming ownership of the land Spencer is holding in trust, said he was ambushed by the DPP and was unaware of intention to withdraw the case.
Spencer in his defence opposed the move, insisting on the unconditional withdrawal of the case.
His lawyers Oscar Gitoro and Newton Osiemo said the prosecution ought to close the matter once and for all if it did not have enough evidence.
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Arguing for the rights of the accused, they said they were ready to proceed with the hearing.
They also said the document the prosecution wanted to consider was subject of a Judicial Review in another matter.
Kagure’s lawyer Wandugi Karathe also complained that they had been ambushed when they were ready to testify.
“The document from the NLC which the prosecution wants to rely on had earlier been quashed by the High Court,” said Wandugi.
He further said the property in question was a private land and he could not understand why an NLC document was required in the case.
Spencer was given time to file an affidavit to show when the documents were shared.
In the case, the lawyer is accused of forging the will of the late Roger Bryan Robson, with intent to defraud.
The matter will be heard November 7, 2018.
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