This archive report was first published on 15 January 2020.
On January 15, 2020, a Nairobi court directed the prosecution to supply businessman Humphrey Kariuki and his co-accused with all documents in compliance with a previous court order.
Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku ruled that the prosecution's failure to supply consistent witness statements was a breach of the court's order. 'It was necessary to have the inventory containing the list of witnesses, their statements and exhibits to be used to ensure compliance with the order of the court and its absence meant the prosecution was not ready,' she said.
Defence lawyers argued that the documents supplied should be consistent for all accused persons since they were facing similar charges. 'We got an inventory with 28 witnesses but were supplied with statements of seven witnesses. We do not have statements of 21 witnesses,' said lawyer Kioko Kilukumi.
The defence team also raised concerns that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions had indicated that they would require them to attend site visits at Africa Spirits Ltd, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) where exhibits are held.
The matter was adjourned to February 26 to confirm compliance, after which hearing dates will be fixed.
