A seven-year trial against Kapsaret MP Oscar Sudi’s academic qualifications has suffered a major setback following the transfer of the trial magistrate by Chief Justice Martha Koome.
Following the move, Sudi’s lawyers will now approach the chief justice to permit Chief Magistrate Felix Kombo to conclude the case which was at its tail end.
Defence lawyer Thomas Rutto pleaded with Milimani Anti-corruption Chief Magistrate Thomas Nzioki to give him more time to enable them to write to the CJ over the issue.
Rutto stated that they need the CJ to intervene and have Kombo finalize the case.
“We urge the court to give us time to write to the CJ to intervene in the matter to allow the transferred magistrate to finalize the case since it is at its tail end,” Ruto said.
He added that the investigation officer was scheduled for cross-examination before the closure of the state case.
State prosecutor Joseph Riungu supported the prosecution’s request.
Riungu informed Nzioki that the case has been pending in court for a long time and justice will only be served if Kombo is allowed to conclude the trial.
“It is on record that the trial magistrate Kombo has informed all the parties, in this case, to expedite the hearing since the case has been pending in court since 2016,” Riungu stated.
Magistrate Nzioki, however, advised the parties to write to him the request to the CJ for onward forwarding.
He noted that the proceedings are quite bulk and that he has so many other pending cases to handle.
The magistrate directed the case to be mentioned on August 31, 2023, to confirm whether the CJ has communicated her decision to allow Kombo to conclude the trial or not.
The new development came up when the last witness, who is the investigating officer, was scheduled to produce all the alleged forged academic certificates of Sudi in court for cross-examination.
In his testimony on July 21, 2023, investigating officer Derrick Kaisha from the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC) told the court that Sudi forged his academic certificates so that he could secure the nomination to vie for the parliamentary seat in the 2013 General Election.
Kaisha presented to the court testimonials obtained from various educational institutions to support the charges that MP Sudi actually forged KCSE and Diploma certificates from Kenya Institute Management (KIM) in business Management when he actually did not attend those classes.
The officer further revealed that Sudi did not sit for his KCSE exam at Highway Secondary nor did he study at KIM where he claims to have attained a Diploma in Business Management.
Sudi faces several charges of forgery of his academic papers that he presented at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for clearance to vie for the parliamentary seat.
Chief Justice Martha Koome is now expected to decide on whether the academic certificate forgery case against Kapseret Member of Parliament Oscar Sudi will proceed before a new magistrate or not.
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