• The governor and his co-accused lost a bid to stop their prosecution over the misappropriation of Sh233 million from the county coffers.
Image: STEPHEN ASTARIKO
The Sh233 million corruption case against Garissa Governor Ali Korane and his three co-accused failed to proceed on Monday because the magistrate was bereaved.
The case was scheduled for hearing but the parties were informed that Milimani anti-corruption court chief magistrate Elizabeth Juma was in mourning.
The matter was subsequently pushed to May 9.
The case was coming up after the governor and his co-accused, in February, lost a bid to stop their prosecution over the misappropriation of Sh233 million from the county coffers.
Korane, Abdi Bulee, Ibrahim Shurie and Ahmed Abdullahi had challenged their prosecution on account that the money was refunded.
But High Court judge Esther Maina ruled that they must face the full trial for other charges of conspiracy to defraud.
“If they believe there was no misappropriation of funds, then the trial court would be the proper tribunal to determine the issue upon hearing and evaluating the evidence from both sides. This court cannot interfere with a proper process before the magistrate’s court,” Justice Maina ruled.
The judge said the accused had not proved that the charges against them were commenced through an ulterior motive.
She said the Director of Public Prosecutions did nothing wrong in approving charges against the governor and that there was nothing to show that the accused persons were being victimised.
“I’m not persuaded that their prosecution is an abuse of court process. They will have an opportunity to adduce the evidence and facts they have raised before the trial court and should they be convicted and feel aggrieved, they will still come to this court for appeal,” Maina ruled.
Korane and his co-accused have all denied the charges. They were charged in 2020.
The graft charges relate to misappropriation of Sh233 million for a World Bank-funded project in the county.