A businesswoman involved in a fatal accident last year on Lang'ata Road has moved to court to stop her prosecution.
Catherine Murimu wants the court to suspend her arraignment over her refusal to give police her fingerprints. She is expected at the Ngong law courts this morning to be charged with careless driving and causing death by dangerous driving.
Murimu's petition reads in part, “... the court to give conservatory orders staying any further prosecution against Murimu in the traffic case for the charge of refusing to allow police to take her fingerprints.”
She questions the constitutionality of section 55 (5) of the National Police Service Act section 129. She says her case raises serious constitutional issues on the legality of section 55 (5) of the NPS Act and asks the court to intervene.
Murimu challenges the legality of the section which, in her opinion, is worded to set a predetermined penalty thereby limiting the independence of the Judiciary, contrary to the provisions of the law.
She says the High Court has the jurisdiction to determine the constitutionalism of any law.
She claims her rights have been breached and the police will continue to do so unless they are restrained.
Last year on June 30, on Lang'ata Road, Murimu was involved in a head-on collision in which the other driver died.
The petitioner says she was served with a notice of intended prosecution by an officer attached to Karen Police Station.
On August 23, the OCS demanded that she records a statement on the accident, which she did, but thereafter was arrested.
The police demanded to take her fingerprints "but I refused." The OCS threatened to detain her if she didn’t give out her fingerprints.
Murimu says there is a need to interpret which legislative arm of government can control aspects of sentencing done by the Judiciary.
She alleges that the Ngong magistrate ruled that section 46 sets the term of imprisonment not to exceed one year and a fine of not more than Sh100,000. "Setting of minimum and maximum sentence takes away the discretion of the court."
(Edited by Rosemary Wamochie)
