This archive report was first published on 13 July 2021.
On July 12, 2021, High Court Judge Justice Joel Ngugi made a landmark ruling, quashing the ongoing prosecution of lawyer Henry Aming'a Nyabere. The lawyer was involved in a dispute over the inheritance of a British tycoon's property worth Ksh74 million.
The property in question belonged to Richard Ingram Crawford, a British tycoon who passed away in February 2014. According to the prosecution, Nyabere allegedly assisted Sarah Joslyn, Crawford's house-help and secretary, in forging a will to inherit the property.
However, Stephen Maina contested the will, claiming it was a forgery. The case had been ongoing, with the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Directorate of Criminal Investigations, and the Chief Magistrate's Court in Nakuru pursuing charges against Nyabere.
Justice Ngugi ruled that the prosecution was a misuse of the criminal justice system, as there was no complaint lodged against Nyabere. The judge also stated that the DPP was acting for unknown, ulterior motives, rather than in the public interest required under Article 157 of the Constitution.
"The circumstances here reek of a rogue Investigating Officer who is driven by crazed animus against Sarah Josyln which has now been transferred to her lawyer. Unfortunately, the Investigating Officer so fueled by his own animus has not found the needed moderating and modulating judgment of the DPP," Justice Ngugi stated.
The judge further indicated that there was no complaint in the alleged criminal offenses leveled against the lawyer. Stephen Ngatia Maina had written a letter to the DPP indicating that he never lodged any complaint against the lawyer.
Justice Ngugi also revealed that the trial had no listed witnesses and no witness statements availed for the criminal case. "They are, so to speak, criminal charges filed in a vacuum and in search of facts and potential complainants and witnesses. They are floating dangerously waiting to crystallize at some point in the future," Justice Ngugi reiterated.
