An assistant chief from Othaya charged with stealing dogs was on Tuesday granted 30 days to prepare his defense.
His lawyer David Onsare told Othaya senior resident magistrate Monica Munyendo he had just been retained by the accused who is out on Sh200,000 bond.
The lawyer requested for time to familiarise himself with the matter.
The prosecution said it was ready to proceed with the case and had brought two witnesses but did not oppose the lawyer’s adjournment application.
Kiandemi assistant chief Paul Gachiri Wageni was charged with stealing terriers valued at Sh300,000 in December, 2016.
He was also charged that on December 6 last year at Kihuri village he dishonestly received and retained one of the dogs, knowing or having reason to believe it was stolen.
They were property of a Nairobi-based televangelist Bishop Thomas Wahome of Helicopter Church.
But Wageni denied the charges.
The case was taken to court after the administrator allegedly failed to prove that he owned the dogs.
Wahome is said to have imported the exotic breed of dogs from South Africa through Tanzania.
Wahome, in his statement to the police, stated that he imported the two animals while they were still puppies on November 17, 2014 at Sh150, 000 each.
“I took them to my compound in Lang'ata, Nairobi, before transporting them to my home in Kiandemi, Othaya, where I placed them in a kennel under the care of my farm manager,” the televangelist said.
Later, the preacher explained, he received a report on December 2016 from his farm manager Macharia Ndichu that the dogs had been stolen.
The hearing of the case will continue on July 1, 2019.
