Mara lion poisoning case fails to kick off due to file hitch

A case in which two men are charged with poisoning eight lions at the Masai Mara National Game Reserve in December 2015 failed to take off before a Narok court.

Prosecutor Hillary Owino asked the court for an adjournment and told Chief Magistrate Wilbroda Juma that the file of the accused persons was still in Nairobi at the Director of Public Prosecutions' (DPP) office, where it had been taken for direction.

But defence counsel, Esther Muigai, objected to the application and submitted that the case had never taken off since December last year, and the delay was denying her clients justice.

The men are accused of poisoning the lions against the Wildlife Conservation Act of 2013.