Lari MP Mburu Kahangara acquitted of traffic offences charges

Lari MP Joseph Mburu Kahangara has been acquitted in a case in which he was charged with six traffic offences allegedly committed along a road in Nairobi.

A magistrate ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove its case against the lawmaker, and cleared him of all the charges.

However, the MP will return to court early next week for a ruling in a separate case of assaulting a traffic police officer that arose from the same incident on Murang’a Road in December last year.

Mr Kahangara has been on trial since December 2013, when he was charged with flouting traffic rules and assaulting a police officer.

DRIVING WITHOUT A LICENCE

The prosecution said he had obstructed the smooth flow of traffic and that he drove his motor vehicle without a licence.

He was also accused of overlapping by changing lanes sharply and that he failed to obey lawful orders from a traffic police officer.

“I find that the case lacks credibility…no one amongst the witnesses testified on how dangerously he overtook, indeed the corporal he is accused of disobeying was best placed to testify, but he did not,” Ms E. Riany said in her ruling.

The case had come up for a ruling on whether the MP had a case to answer, but the court proceeded to vindicate him on the grounds that prosecution witnesses failed to give corroborative evidence.