The state is still not ready to begin the trial against billionaire businessman Humphrey Kariuki and others in a tax evasion case, eight months after investigations began.
On Thursday, Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Vincent Monda asked a Nairobi Court to grant him 21 more days to enable them supply witness statements and other documents to be used in the case to Kariuki’s team.
Monda told the court that the documents sought are voluminous and include 10 boxes full of invoices.
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He said they had supplied some statements to the defence but admitted there are more documents that need to be provided.
Lawyers Kioko Kilukumi and Cecil Miler are representing Kariuki and said they had been supplied with 27 witness statements on September 4 and 23 exhibits.
They, however, told the court the inventory indicated more documents were still to be supplied.
Monda asked the court to grant him three weeks to give the defence teams all the documents needed before the case case scheduled for September 26.
Defense lawyers said they wanted the prosecution to supply all the witness statements and other documents by September 20 and not on 26 as requested by the prosecution team.
But Nairobi Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku directed the prosecution to comply, and that the two files placed before her be mentioned on September 26
Mutuku was handling the matters in place of the trial magistrate Francis Andayi.
She asked the prosecution to ensure documents are given to the defence before September 20 and file the inventory duly signed by the defence on or before September 26.
The same orders were issued by Nairobi Principal Magistrate Kennedy Cheruiyot in one of the cases before him.
