• Korir, through lawyer Nicholas Ombija, produced medical documents before Milimani chief Magistrate Susan Shitubi showing his client has Covid-19.
•The prosecutor said, however, court summons should be taken seriously since the summons came before the accused travelled.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
Devolution PS Julius Kiplangat Korir will appear in court on March 1 after his scheduled appearance was postponed as he had contracted Covid-19.
Korir was to appear in court on Monday to plead to charges of assaulting his estranged and pregnant wife Evelyn Koech in 2020.
He failed to appear, saying he contracted the virus after traveling abroad on official business.
Korir, through lawyer Nicholas Ombija, produced medical documents before Milimani chief magistrate Susan Shitubi showing he has Covid-19.
“Your Honour, my client travelled back but he contracted Covid-19 and, hence, was not able to attend court. I have medical documents to prove that he is sick," the court was told.
Prosecutor Alice Muthangani, however, said the ODPP needs to verify the medical document to confirm whether the tests are genuine.
The court gave the prosecution until March 1 when the case will be mentioned.
Last week, Shitubi extended the summons after the defence lawyer told court that Korir had traveled out of the country on official duty.
“We are seeking to defer the plea taking by Korir as he has traveled out the country for an East African Community function on devolution,” Ombija told the court.
He produced a letter dated February 1 showing the PS was to travel from February 5 to 10.
The court heard that since the Devolution ministry has no CS at the moment, it was necessary for the PS to travel and represent the country.
Charles Keter resigned last week to seek and elective post.
The prosecutor, however, said court summons should be taken seriously since the summons came before the accused travelled.
Shitubi ruled that the PS is just like any other citizen who can commit an offence and is subject to criminal justice.
He should know that there are implications for not honouring summons.
Korir was summoned after the prosecution applied to have him appear in the assault case.
In the charge sheet, Korir is accused of assaulting Koech and causing her bodily harm.
He is alleged to have committed the offence on September 17, 2020 at Ndalat Road, Karen, in Nairobi.
Last year, Korir appealed to the High Court to stop his prosecution, but Justice Anthony Mrima in November 2021 dismissed the petition.
He said the state was right in mounting prosecution against him over assault and injury of Koech while she was pregnant.
The PS had sought to stop the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations from arresting and prosecuting him in connection with the alleged offence.
He called the arrest and prosecution illegal, in bad faith and an infringement on his constitutional rights.
“The petitioner has not shown how the DPP violated the Constitution by authorising his prosecution. Further, if the court quashes or grants the orders sought, it will frustrate the rule of law,” Justice Mrima ruled.
Korir risks losing his job in line with Chapter 6 of the Constitution on integrity as well as the Leadership and Integrity Act.
The Act states that "any state officer automatically goes on suspension after taking a plea in a criminal case.”
The state officer argued the prosecution was being used to force him to settle a matrimonial property case.
(Edited by V. Graham)