Boinnet faults Judiciary for ruling on Ng’ang’a case

Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet has blamed the Judiciary for the acquittal of televangelist James Nganga who had been accused of causing the death of a woman by driving dangerously in 2015.

Boinnet said he was confident the Police Service had not bungled the investigations of the case and that was why they were not satisfied with the Court's decision.

He said police had presented a watertight case in court with the hope of securing a conviction.

“I am certain that the police officers in the case did their job and that is why we are appealing the decision of the court on the matter,” he insisted.

He said there was an experienced team of investigators on the case and they would present their findings during the appeal of the decision.

Nganga was acquitted alongside three other co accused Simon Kuria, Inspector Christopher Nzilu and Inspector Patrick Baya, by a Limuru court on Monday.

Chief Magistrate Godfrey Oduor acquitted Nganga who had been charged with dangerously driving a Range Rover and causing the death of Mercy Njeri on July 26, 2015 at Manguo on the Nairobi-Naivasha highway

The pastor was also charged with failing to report the accident involving his vehicle and the other – KBZ 709W – to any police station within 24 hours.

On the third count, he was charged with giving false information to a police officer.

He also faced a charge of driving an uninsured car since the car did not have a policy in respect to third party risk at the time of accident.

The fifth count brought together the four, which was that they conspired to defeat justice whereby, between July 26, and August 15, 2015 in Limuru, they jointly conspired to mislead a police officer at Tigoni Police Station to defeat the course of justice.

Count six involved Kuria, who had initially confessed that he was the one driving the car when the accident occurred.

Nzilu, and Baya who were both police officers were charged with neglecting official duties.

According to Oduor, there were inconsistencies and discrepancies in the time of accident and that the claims, some which he said were strange, concocted or exaggerated on the pastor being at the accident scene and which were not in the initial police statements, making them inadmissible.

By throwing out the charge on causing death by dangerous driving against Mr Ng’ang’a, Oduor automatically dismissed the other counts, arguing that the charge formed the basis of the other counts.

The decision allowed Nganga to walk free, causing public outrage.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’,on Tuesday, wrote to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji to appeal the acquittal, saying the government is not satisfied with the ruling, arguing that evidence implicating the pastor was overwhelming.

“The ministry notes with surprise the acquittal handed down in the above case where we believe a brazen crime was committed by the accused person,” read a letter from the CS to the DPP and copied to Boinnet.