This archive report was first published on 12 May 2020.
On May 8, 2020, Joshua Waiganjo was acquitted of charges of impersonating senior police officers, a case that has left many questions unanswered.
The acquittal was largely attributed to the failure of four police officers to testify in court.
The officers, who were part of the investigation team, were supposed to provide crucial evidence in the case, but they failed to appear in court.
According to the prosecution, the officers had not recorded statements and were not part of the 40 witnesses' records supplied to the defence team.
Despite efforts by the Director of Public Prosecutions to reopen the case, the High Court threw out their application.
Magistrate Joe Omido noted that the failure of the officers to testify forced the court to draw an adverse inference that their evidence would have been unfavourable to the prosecution case.
“Absence of such evidence necessarily creates a lacuna in the case for the prosecution, because it gives the impression that the central government police officers had nothing to do with the case and had taken no part whatsoever in investigating and deciding on the charge to be preferred against the suspects,” Mr Omido said.
