Shollei loses bid to stop pursuit of further charges against her

Former Judiciary Chief Registrar Gladys Shollei has lost a bid to stop the Director of Public Prosecutions from pressing more charges against her.

Ms Shollei, who has a case regarding illegal procurement of a house for the Chief Justice, is to be prosecuted over involvement in the irregular payment of Sh46 million to Timsales Ltd for the construction of Mavoko courts.

The High Court declined to give orders, saying the grounds she gave were mere allegations.

But the court allowed her to file a notice of motion within 10 days and set the hearing for January 21.

She accused the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the DPP of abusing their authority.

Through her lawyer Paul Ng’arua, Ms Shollei said she was shocked to learn that the DPP had approved more charges against her following recommendations from EACC regarding the construction of Mavoko courts.

“Piecemeal investigations and prosecutions will deprive me of fair hearing, deflate my defence and embarrass me as I would hop from one court to another,” she said.

Mr Ng’arua said the fact that Ms Shollei received reports regarding her charges from the media made the whole case a PR exercise.

“It is only fair that the application is heard expeditiously and orders sought granted,” he said.

Ms Shollei and seven others face fresh charges of abuse of office and flouting procurement laws.

The seven are former Deputy Chief Registrar Kakai Kissinger, Mr Martin Otieno Okwata, Mr Benedict Abonyo Omollo, Mr Wycliffe Wanga Ombunde, Mr Nicholas Muturi Okemwa, Mr Nicholas Mbeba and Mr Thomas Oloo Atak.

They are also accused of failing to comply with procurement laws by awarding a direct tender to Timsales and increasing the down payment to from 10 to 50 per cent.

Mr Kissinger faces another charge of abuse of office for authorising payment of Sh150 million to Timsales to build courts in Mavoko and Garsen.