The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Renson Ingonga is yet to get evidence from five institutions in readiness to prosecute Brian Mwenda, who has been charged with impersonating an advocate of the High Court, a Nairobi court has been told.
And as a consequence, Milimani Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina ordered the DPP to available evidence against Mwenda within two weeks for expeditious disposal of the case.
The directive by the magistrate comes after Mwenda through lawyer Danstan Omari sought to be freed since the prosecution has no evidence to offer in the case.
Omari said since his client was charged two weeks ago, no evidence has been furnished to the defence regarding the charges filed against him.
"This was a matter hurriedly brought to court purely for politics of the Law Society of Kenya. It is shocking that the DPP is yet to get evidence in the matter since the accused person was charged two weeks ago. Since it is clear that the state has no evidence so far we seek to have the accused discharged, " Omari said.
The lawyer protested the manner in which the prosecution is conducting the case, given that they rushed to charge Mwenda without completing investigations into the allegations of falsely presenting himself as an advocate of the High Court.
Omari informed the court that when the accused was first brought to court, the DPP claimed they had a watertight case against Mwenda and were ready to proceed to trial without further delay.
"The prosecution is admitting now that they have no evidence that was presented before it before they approve the charge sheet presented to the court. They now claim they are waiting for evidence from five institutions, not even one institution has provided evidence that brought the young man to court, " Omari told the court.
Urging the court to stand over the pre-trial conference on Tuesday, November 6, 2023, the state prosecutor Festus Njue said the time sought is meant to enable investigators to record statements from five undisclosed institutions before a hearing date for the case against Mwenda is fixed.
Opposing the plea to discharge Mwenda, Njue said the 14-day period will not prejudice the rights of the accused person for expeditious disposal of the case as required under Article 50 of the constitution.
The prosecutor told Onyina that the DPP presented the charges against Mwenda based on the threshold of the preliminary investigations conducted by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
He said the ongoing investigations in the case would be concluded within a week.
"The DPP recommended charges against Mwenda based on a threshold test on earlier probe as investigations carry on. In the subject matter, the investigations are about to be concluded and the time given by the investigating officer is one week, " Njue informed the magistrate.
The prosecutor informed the court that his application to postpone the pre-trial hearing should not be prejudged to mean there is no evidence against Mwenda.
"I reiterate my application, the same should not be taken in any way to suggest that the state has no evidence at all against the accused person," Njue told Onyina.
In a brief ruling, the magistrate allowed the DPP's request to adjourn the case to enable him to gather all the evidence needed in the case.
He ordered the state to supply the defence team with the evidence they intend to rely on during trial before November 29, 2023, when the case will be mentioned for directions.
In the case, Brian Mwenda is charged with six counts of uttering a false document, making a false document, as well as a practising certificate.
