Former Cabinet Minister Maina Wanjigi got a reprieve on Monday after the High Court stopped criminal proceedings against him which are before the Nyeri Chief Magistrate court.
According to orders issued by High Court Judge Roselyn Aburili, the petitioner has a prima facie and an arguable case.
Justice Aburuli ruled: “I’m certified that the applicant has demonstrated that he has a prima facie case for interim orders to be granted by this court."
The term prima facie is used in law to describe the presentation of sufficient evidence by a civil petitioner to support the legal claim.
[caption caption="Lady Justice Roselyne Aburili"]
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The judge further instructed the prosecution to have the main application filed and served within seven days starting Monday.
The former minister had moved to court to suspend summons directing him to appear before the Nyeri magistrate court to take a plea on charges of failing to keep safe his firearm which police retrieved at his son's residence where he was staying.
“How can they claim I failed to keep the weapon when they took it from my bedroom? I was present when they took the weapon. This is crazy,” Maina had earlier on lamented.
In a certificate of urgency filed at the Milimani law courts through his lawyers Maina alleged that since the raid on his son’s property in 2017, the family has been subjected to continuous abuse by the state due to his family's association with opposition leader Raila Odinga.
Maina maintained that he was recuperating after undergoing surgery adding that he is not in a state of mind to swear an affidavit in support of the application filed by his lawyers.
[caption caption="Mzee Maina Wanjigi"]
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The former Cabinet Minister further noted that he is a disciplined licensed firearm holder with no record of misuse of the firearm for over 50 years.
