Court frees 22 Kikuyu elders after DPP cites lack of sufficient evidence

A Murang’a court has released 22 Kikuyu elders who were arrested in December last year at the Mukuruwe wa Nyagathanga shrine while conducting prayers.

Their release follows an application by the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) to have the case withdrawn under section 87(a) due to insufficient evidence.

Senior Principal Magistrate Edwin Nyaga, in his ruling on Wednesday, set the elders free and told them they should have no fear of being re-arrested.

However, the ruling did not go well with lawyers representing the elders, who said the prosecution treated the case casually despite having used a legal process to press the charges against the elders.

The lawyers who included Martha Karua, Ndegwa Njiru, Jeremiah Kioni, Kibe Mungai and Kinuthia Mwangi among others said the ODPP had evaluated the evidence and saw it could not sustain the case but still went ahead to prosecute the elders, terming it as abuse of office which is against the law.

They also said the prosecution had not presented a credible charge sheet before the court and the case should have not been filed for any proceedings.

Karua said they wanted the case dismissed and not withdrawn. The court, however, ignored their plea, adding that the approach would pave way for similar cases to come up in future.

“We are not contented with the ruling but we are going to look at which other ways the rights of the elders had been exploited and pursue for their justice,” she said.

“It is a sad day for us because this clearly indicates that those in office can easily overlook the law and push their way out of anything,” added Karua.