Kasarani MP corruption charges to continue

Nairobi, Kenya: Kasarani MP John Njoroge Chege’s bid to have corruption charges dropped suffered a setback yesterday when the High Court declined to grant his prayers.

Chege, who had been charged before Magistrate’s Court with three counts of soliciting bribes, which he denied, had moved to the High Court to have it stop the proceedings in the lower court.

He argued that a delay in concluding the issue violated his right to a fair and expeditious trial.

In his petition before High Court judge Justice David Majanja, the Kasarani MP had urged the court to quash the proceedings of the case since the complainant in the matter, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi had wilfully opted to withdraw the charges levelled against him.

Chege is accused that on June 25 last year, at the Continental House parking yard in Nairobi, he solicited Sh100,000 from Abdullahi as an inducement to facilitate payment of Sh3.3 million for a completed Baba Dogo Secondary school tuition block. However, the Kasarani MP denied soliciting the same amount of money twice on July 2, and 3, last year.

In his judgement Justice Majanja declined the invitation to determine whether the complaint before the Magistrate’s court should be withdrawn under section 204 of the Criminal Procedure Code and directed that the case should proceed to trial.