Naivasha MP Jayne Kihara has suffered a major blow after a Nairobi court ordered her to take a plea on charges of offensive conduct.
This is after Magistrate Benmark Ekhubi ruled that the charges against the legislator are legally sound and that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) acted within the law in preferring the criminal case against her. "I find the requirements of a properly drafted charge sheet have been mounted by the State," said Ekhubi in his ruling. "I also find, on the face of the charge sheet, that the MP will be able to fathom, adequately discern, and prepare for her defence." The magistrate added that the charge framed against Kihara discloses an offence in law and directed her to take plea as per the charge sheet presented before the court.
Delivering his ruling Tuesday morning, Senior Principal Magistrate Benmark Ekhubi dismissed preliminary objections raised by Kihara's legal team, which had sought to block her plea-taking on the grounds that the charges were defective and politically motivated.
The ruling comes two weeks after Kihara's lawyers, led by Senior Counsel Kalonzo Musyoka and advocate Ndegwa Njiru, objected to her taking a plea, claiming the charge brought under Section 94(1) of the Penal Code was vague, outdated, and unconstitutional. "We urge you not to have the MP plead to the charges as we believe her prosecution is pure political persecution," Kalonzo argued. "The charges before you are based on a section that is non-existent in law.
