his is after he filed a petition challenging the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to proffer charges against him/CFM NEWS
NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 31 – The High Court has stopped the criminal prosecution of lawyer Tom Ojienda over claims of obtaining money falsely from Mumias Sugar Company.
This is after he filed a petition challenging the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to proffer charges against him.
He was appearing before Justice Chacha Mwita who said that he has raised constitutional issues which must be determined before any action is taken.
Chacha stated that Ojienda’s lawyers had demonstrated that the subject matter relates to a similar case in which the DPP and EACC appealed against the decision of the Court of Appeal.
His Lawyer Otiende Amollo also told the court that the subject amount was legal fees which cannot be used to charge Ojienda.
“An advocates bill cannot be the foundation of a criminal charge. Whatever other avenue one wants to take, it cannot be criminal prosecution,” he stated.
In the meantime, the DPP stated that Court of Appeal Judge James Odek is not under investigations over the Mumias Sugar Company saga but instead will be a prosecution witness against Ojienda.
Through a statement, Haji stated that the Judge was in no way involved in the matters, giving rise to the prosecution of lawyer Tom Ojienda who has since been arrested and taken to court over the matter.
Haji reiterated that the decision to charge Ojienda was made on the basis of available evidence and amongst the charges against him include filing a fake case and conspiring to receive payment for work not done.
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