Prosecutors face hurdle in leaked video case

A Nairobi court has given prosecutors one week to record witness statements from President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga over surveillance footage of the two that was leaked last month.

Senior Magistrate Zainab Abdul ordered the investigating officer to appear in court on July 9 to explain whether he has recorded the two statements and supplied them to the defendants.

The suspects, Patrick Rading Ambogo and Janet Magoma Ayonga, are accused of circuiting computer data without authorisation contrary to cyber crime rules.

They are accused of intentionally and without authorisation intercepting security CCTV footage capturing the  Head of State’s entourage on Kenyatta Avenue.

Defence lawyers Danstan Omari and Appollo Mboya told Ms Abdalla that they “have not been supplied with witness statements from the two complainants.

The magistrate heard that the two suspects are apprehensive since they are yet to know what the complainants have to say about them.

“The accused need to start preparing their defences but they cannot do it since the investigating officer is yet to supply them with witness statements from both President Kenyatta and Mr Odinga,” the lawyers said.

The case had come for mention for the prosecution to confirm whether exhibits and witness statements have been supplied to the accused.

Omari has also requested the prosecution to provide them with the original video clip that captured the entourage.