• Tuesday, 05 November 2024
High court halts the prosecution of Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o

High court halts the prosecution of Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o

The High Court has issued orders suspending the prosecution of Controller of Budget(CoB) Margaret Nyakang'o until May 2024.

Justice Chacha Mwita issued a conservatory suspending Nyakang'o's trial following a petition lodged in court by Mugirango MP Stephen Mogaka.

"A conservatory order is hereby issued suspending the prosecution of Margaret Nyakang'o in the Mombasa chief magistrates court case number E1674 of 2023 until May 21, 2024," Justice Mwita ordered.

The judge has ordered the MP to serve the DPP and DCI with the petition and file responses within 14 days.

The orders come after MP Mogaka filed the lawsuit saying Nyakang'o's prosecution is a scheme meant to hound her out of office.

"The arrest and arraignment before the court was conducted under orchestrated publicity and fanfare and wholly violating the Nyakang'o's right to dignity and wholly intent on embarrassing, vexing, harassing and putting her to shame," Mogaka told the Judge.

The lawmaker says that Nyakangó's prosecution comes days after she blew the whistle on, among other things, the growing debt ceiling and use of acquired loans to pay salaries as opposed to development.

He adds that the Controller of Budget has in the recent past prepared several reports on the implementation of the budgets of the National and County governments some of which have been adverse and have pointed to the misappropriation of public funds.

"The arrest comes in the wake of her public exposure with regards to the fiscal improprieties within the running of various state arm and agencies and is a glaring manifestation of a knee-jerk reaction accentuated by ulterior motives, malice and an unprecedented abuse of process," Mogaka said.

According to the MP, the alleged offences facing Nyakang'o of fraud, forgery and operating a sacco without a valid licence dated back to 2016, lack a proper factual basis to give rise to criminal charges and are entirely founded upon a civil matter that has been adjudicated before civil forum.

The MP argued that the decision by the DPP and DCI to investigate and charge the Controller of Budget with criminal proceedings emanating from a civil suit is a clear abuse of the process and a violation of the independent office exercise of its mandate.

In his petition, the MP now wants to quash the prosecution and declare DPP and DCI's decision to charge her was unconstitutional.

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