Incitement charges against Aladwa not defective-court rules

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Aladwa incitement charges

Nairobi ODM chair George Aladwa incitement to violence case will now proceed to hearing after he lost a bid to have the charges withdrawn on grounds that the charge sheet was defective.

While delivering his ruling on 1st February 2017, Chief Magistrate Francis said the matter should proceed to full hearing because he did not find any ground that the charges were defective as contested by the defense.

“I have seen the signature of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Keriako Tobiko which means after police completed their work they referred the file to him,” said Andayi.

He added that the DPP submitted that the charge sheet was properly drafted at as it was confirmed to court that it is the DPP who is handling the matter.

The magistrate said he considered the submission from both the prosecution and defense while he made the ruling and was not persuaded how the charge sheet was defective.

“The defense did not provide enough evidence to show that the charge sheet was defective,” said Andayi.

The magistrate noted that the defense failed to provide any authority to show how the rights of the accused are violated.

He said the Christian names indicated in the charge sheet of which have been contested shows that prosecution acknowledges and respect religion.

Through his lawyer John Khaminwa, Aladwa had earlier submitted that the charge sheet was drafted under the old constitution and therefore cannot be used to prosecute him.

“The charge sheet should be amended to show clearly that it is the police and not the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) who recommended that my client charged,” said Khaminwa.

“The police no longer have authority to institute criminal proceedings only the DPP has that mandate,” said Khaminwa.

The lawyer also wanted the parts indicating the ‘Christian’ and ‘tribes’ in the charge sheet deleted and a proper charge sheet drafted.

Lawyer Khaminwa had submitted that the accused person is a senior politician who is contesting for the Makadara parliamentary seat and the case may affect him during the next general election.

According to Khaminwa, the charge sheet contains a police rubber stamp despite the fact that they are not allowed to prosecute.

The magistrate set the case to be heard on 23rd and 26th May 2017.

In the case, Aladwa is accused of uttering words allegedly to be desirable to bring death to certain Kenyans.

He was arrested on October 23, 2015 by Flying Squad officers and taken to the CID and Kilimani Police station to record statements.

Recently, former chief Magistrate Daniel Ogembo had declined to stop the proceedings against Aladwa and said the hearing will continue unless the high court issues orders suspending it.

Khaminwa had requested Ogembo to suspend the proceedings at the trial court pending the outcome of the petition filed at the high court.

Aladwa is out on Sh3 million bond.