The Solai dam trial is yet to kick off seven months after nine suspects were arrested in connection with the death of 48 people.
DPP Noordin Haji
has for the third time gone to court seeking to transfer the case from the Naivasha law courts to Nairobi.
During the application, High Court Judge Richard Mwongo took issue with the prosecution over its obsession with the case being transferred to Nairobi.
“I want to understand what the real problem is as the prosecution is really determined to have this case taken to another jurisdiction,” Justice Mwongo said.
According to State Counsel Jason Makori, some witnesses were unwilling to testify in the Naivasha law courts as their security was under threat.
Makori told the court that the first magistrate to listen to the case had stepped aside noting that there were fears that the victims could not get justice.
“Most of the witnesses are based in Nairobi and though a similar application was thrown out by this court we have fresh grounds seeking to transfer this case to Nairobi,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the defense team, lawyer F.I Mburu accused the DPP of trying to abuse the court process by delaying the case though flimsy grounds.
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He said since the accused were arraigned in July last year the case was yet to kick off due to the prosecution's continuous adjournment.
Mburu said that the same court had thrown out a similar application by the prosecution last year adding that nothing had changed.
“The prosecution states that the witnesses are in Nairobi and there is no evidence to prove this while the allegation that the victims won’t get fair justice from Naivasha court is farfetched,” he said.
The lawyer wondered why the prosecution was determined to have the matter transferred particularly to Nairobi and not any other jurisdiction.
In the case, the nine suspects including the dam's owner Perry Manusukh are charged with 48 counts of manslaughter and failing to prepare an environmental impact assessment report.
The other eight are Vinoj Jaya Kumar, Johnson Njuguna, Luka Kipyegen, Winnie Muthoni, Jacinta Were, Tomkin Odo Odhiambo, Willie Omondi and Lynette Cheruiyot.
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