Case on Embu Speaker's abduction weak, police say

Embu Senator Lenny Kivuti (centre, standing), Embu County Assembly Speaker Julius Mate (seated), seen on May 23, 2014, at Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi. PHOTO/WILLIAM OERI

A police sergeant accused of abducting Embu County Assembly Speaker Julius Mate may soon be a free man.

This is after the police wrote to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to express their apprehension that the case cannot be sustained.

The police have forwarded the case file to the DPP for advice.

The new twist emerged on Thursday when Sergeant Nicholas Muriuki turned up for a hearing at the Nairobi chief magistrate’s court.

Mr Muriuki’s lawyer also presented an order obtained from the High Court that halted his prosecution pending the outcome of a petition he lodged in objection.

'MALICIOUS' PROSECUTION

The lawyer requested a mention in a month’s time as the hearing of the petition begins on September 22 before Justice Mumbi Ngugi.

Mr Muriuki got the High Court reprieve on June 19 after a preliminary presentation under a certificate of urgency, with his lawyers arguing that his prosecution was malicious and had to be suspended till his side of the story was heard and determined.

The Embu speaker was found dumped unharmed along Limuru Road, near St. Paul's University, three days after he was allegedly abducted at Utalii Hotel in Nairobi, where he was participating in a county budget-planning meeting.

He was yet to record a formal statement with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations when Mr Muriuki was hauled to court.

MISSED CALL

He was admitted at Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi, where he underwent a general stability health check-up.

In Mr Muriuki’s petition, he cites incidents where Mr Mate gave media interviews to the effect that he was unable to comprehensively recollect his ordeal.

He was arrested on the premise of a missed call he allegedly made to Mr Mate on May 19 before he disappeared.

Mr Murikui has also raised questions about the rushed quality of investigations carried out before he was linked to the abduction and subsequently charged in court.

On Thursday, the trial court extended his bond of Sh100,000 and directed him to appear for a mention on September 26.