Prosecutor in Sh11m theft case jailed for not producing witnesses
What you need to know:
- Besides the one day jail term, the magistrate also ordered the state prosecutor to pay a fine of Sh25,000.
- Mr Okeyo is charged alongside two others — Simeon Sagana Kanani and Lucas Chacha Matiko.
- Jailing the prosecutor, the magistrate said he failed to explain satisfactorily why witnesses were not availed yet the case had been listed for trial this week.
A prosecutor has been jailed for failing to produce witnesses in a case where a former National Council of Non-Governmental Organisations Philip Okeyo is charged with stealing over Sh11 million.
Mr Willy Momanyi was on Wednesday sent to prison for contempt of court by a Milimani Law Courts resident magistrate Ms Tobiko Sinkiyian.
Besides the one day jail term, the magistrate also ordered the state prosecutor to pay a fine of Sh25,000.
If he fails to pay the fine, Mr Momanyi will serve five more days in jail.
The magistrate noted that the case has been pending before court for six years.
Mr Okeyo is charged alongside two others — Simeon Sagana Kanani and Lucas Chacha Matiko.
They are said to have stolen Sh11,793,453 on diverse dates between September 12, 2008 and June 26, 2009.
Mr Okeyo has been separately charged with conspiracy to defraud the NGOs council the millions by creating fictitious meetings held across the country within the same period.
He has also been accused of false accounting.
Jailing the prosecutor, the magistrate said he failed to explain satisfactorily why witnesses were not availed yet the case had been listed for trial this week.
Mr Momanyi declined to terminate the case saying that he had more witnesses to call besides the few who have testified in court.
Other state prosecutors led by Eddie Kadebe moved swiftly to have the prosecutor freed by filing an urgent application before the High Court’s criminal division to quash the sentence.
