Woman wants Kemboi charged with sexual assault

Olympic Champion Ezekiel Kemboi in court. [Photo: Peter Ochieng/Standard]

By Michael Wesonga

Olympic steeplechase champion Ezekiel Kemboi might face sexual assault charges if the Director of Public Prosecution allows an application by a woman the athlete allegedly assaulted.

Ann Otieno Njeri told an Eldoret Court through her lawyer that they had applied for the amendment of the charge sheet to reflect the gravity of the offense initially not captured.

Lawyer James Njuguna argued the move was necessitated by the fact that the charges did not reflect the actual intents of the accused.

“We want the charges reviewed towards enhancing the gravity of the offence to include sexual assault and grievous harm that are not currently reflected,” he said.

Kemboi, the Olympics 3,000 meters steeplechase champion, had appeared before an Eldoret court on Tuesday in the case where he is charged with assaulting Njeri.

He allegedly assaulted Njeri causing her serious injuries on the night of June 27 at West Indies in the outskirts of Eldoret town.

The lawyer who had written a plea to the Eldoret OCPD, DCIO and the PPIO said the DPP’s office has the ability to give further directions on the matter.

Earlier on in Court, the DPPs office had requested for two months to peruse the file that was recently handed over to the office by the Director of Criminal Investigations in Nairobi.

But Kemboi’s lawyer Michael Chemwok opposed the application and asked the Eldoret Principal Magistrate Francis Kyambia to grant them a month.

Chemwok complained that despite the prosecution’s laxity to dispense the matter expeditiously, the file had not been placed before his client for his acquaintance with the charges.

He said Kemboi is an international athlete occasionally on assignments and thus quick disposal of the matter by the DPP would benefit both him and the country.

“The prosecution should put their house in order by deciding on their intended action to assist in deciding whether to proceed for hearing or not,” he said.

But Njuguna argued that his client also deserved a fair and just hearing.

The Magistrate directed the case be heard on October 23 this year.