Helicopter Ministries televangelist Thomas Wahome has moved to court seeking to stop the DPP from charging him for allegedly using abusive language against a government administrator.
Bishop Wahome wants the High Court in Nyeri to order the suspension of the intended prosecution at Othaya law courts.
According to documents filed in court Thursday, the DPP wants to charge the bishop accused of using abusive language against Nyeri South deputy county commissioner Henry Ochako on August 28.
In an application certified urgent by Justice Hatari Waweru, Wahome claimed the intended prosecution is aimed at coercing him to drop a pending case in which a chief is accused of stealing his two dogs worth Sh300,000.
He has named the chief Paul Waigeni, Ochako, Ministry of Interior and the DPP as the respondents.
"The DCC informed me that if I fail to withdraw a complaint against the chief, I will suffer the consequences," Wahome says in his affidavit.
Chief Wageni is under trial on accusations of stealing two exotic breeds of dogs (Terriers) on an unknown date during in December 2016, at Kihuri village in Othaya.
While insisting that intended prosecution is meant to intimidate him, the bishop says the DCC and the village have violated and breached his rights for subjecting him to unfair trial arising from trumped-up charges.
“The petitioner’s freedom of movement has been restrained as he is apprehensive of being harassed or killed by gangs,” Bishop Wahome’s lawyer Douglas Obongi states in the petition.
The lawyer claimed that his client’s family has also been denied access to services at the local offices of the Ministry of Interior because of his case against the chief.
“The chief and DCC have failed to carry out their duties in accordance with the law and in the pretence of carrying out their duties as public officials, have violated the rights and freedoms of the petitioner,” Obongi says.
He wants the High Court to issue an order restraining the chief and the sub-county administrator from harassing, threatening and interfering with Wahome’s property, dignity and business.
The lawyer also wants the court to declare that the action of the two administrators was oppressive, in excessive use of their powers, a violation of his client’s rights and an abuse of the legal process.
Further, Obongi is seeking a directive stopping the administrators from interfering with the pending criminal case facing the chief.
The application will be heard on September 16.
Edited by R.Wamochie
