Justice Ngugi allowed the application by EACC and the director of CID which have recommended their prosecution/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, May 19 – Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter and nominated MP Sonia Birdi are expected to face charges before a Naivasha Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
This was after Justice Mumbi Ngugi declined to grant an application seeking to stop their prosecution.
In her decision, Ngugi said Keter and Birdi had not raised sufficient grounds to stop their indictment.
“There is nothing sufficient that would grant the interim orders sought by the petitioners. Consequently the court declines to grant the odds sought,’’ she ruled.
Justice Ngugi allowed the application by EACC and the Director of CID which have recommended their prosecution.
The two investigating agencies told the court that the two MPs have already been registered in a chief magistrate’s Court in Naivasha.
“The petitioners should not be given interim orders at this stage as they are seeking to deter a due process from taking place,” justice Ngugi heard.
Keter and Birdi moved to court five days ago asking the court to direct that they had not committed an offence that necessitates their arrest and charges in court.
READ: MPs Keter and Birdi in court to block arrest, prosecution
Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko approved their prosecution following completion of an investigation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
The two will be charged for breaching Chapter Six of the Constitution of Kenya and the Provisions of the Ethics and Integrity Act 2013.
READ: MPs Keter, Birdi to face charges over weighbridge saga
Keter and Birdi were captured on video harassing weighbridge officials in Gilgil where they had gone to demand the release of a truck belonging to the nominated MP.
Tobiko ordered the EACC and Directorate of Criminal Investigations to investigate Keter and Birdi after the video in which Keter was seen and heard hurling insults to officers at the Gilgil Weighbridge in a bid to have the police release the detained vehicle.
The video was widely circulated on social media.
However, Keter has denied the allegations and said he had not gone to the weighbridge to influence the police officers unduly but to fight corruption.
READ: I had gone to fight graft in Gilgil claims #AlfredKeter
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