Court declines to stop former CS Kamaus trial, sets hearing date

The High Court in Nairobi has declined to stop a corruption case against former Transport Cabinet Secretary Michael Kamau instead directed the matter be first heard inter partes.

Justice John Mativo set the inter-party hearing on Tuesday, August 28, 2018.

The court certified the matter as urgent and ordered that Kamau’s appeal be heard before the vacation judge next week on Tuesday.

The former CS was charged afresh in July this year with abuse office and willful failure to comply with guidelines relating to the management of public funds.

He, however moved to the high court seeking to have the case stopped on grounds that he was charged with a defective charge sheet.

Kamau argues that thee charges he is facing before the anti-corruption court are illegal and unconstitutional.

He avers that the trial court declined to give him an opportunity to object to the charges and instead compelled him to answer to the counts he is facing.

“The petitioner further contends that there’s an abuse of court process and where the prosecutor is oppressive the petitioner cannot get a ‘square deal’ in a violation to the petitioner’s fundamental rights to equal protection and benefit of the law,” reads court papers.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, the Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji and the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court have been named as respondents in the case.