On Monday, senior Counsel James Orengo, the former Nairobi Governor Dr Evans Kidero’s lawyer made the trial of former Nairobi County boss and eight others fail to proceed. This is after the defence lawyers said the charge sheet was defective.
Dr Kidero, who is facing graft and abuse of office charges, said through his lawyer that one of the counts relates to an offence that does not exist in law.
He further said that the charge sheet does not disclose the offence.
Dr Kidero was charged together with former chief officers in his administration, including County Secretary Lilian Ndegwa, Chief Finance Officer Jimmy Mutuku Kiamba, Finance and Planning minister Gregory Mwakanongo, Head of Accounting Stephen Ogago Osiro, Acting Chief Finance Officer Luke Mugo and Acting Head of Treasury Maurice Ochieng Okere.
The charges state that they conspired to commit fraud, which led to the loss of Sh213,327,300 at the county government between January 16, 2014 and January 25, 2016.
Chief Magistrate Douglas Ogoti directed Mr Orengo to file a formal application and serve it upon the prosecution for a hearing on Thursday.
The magistrate further directed the prosecution to supply the parties with all witness statements after it emerged that some pages were missing.