The office of Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has criticised the media over the way it has been reporting the case against suspects in the National Youth Service (NYS) corruption scandal.
He warned the fourth estate of misrepresenting the facts in certain court proceedings.
Assistant DPP Joseph Riungu explained that despite the inaccurate reporting, the office cannot bar the media from reporting on the court proceedings.
Riungu was particularly concerned about reports in sections of the media that charges were dropped against certain suspects due to lack of evidence.
He urged journalists to always seek clarification from his office to avoid misleading the public.
"This will be so that the information doesn't create a perception that whatever is happening in court is not the actual position," Riungu said.
He added that there was a proposal to form a caucus with court reporters and the stakeholders in the justice system to decide the way forward in reporting the proceedings.
On October 29, the prosecution withdrew charges against eight suspects in the case on the loss of Ksh231 million from NYS. Five of them will be state witnesses.
Rodgers Nzioka, Sammy Michuki, Josephat Njoroge, Stephen Muchai, Clara Mbau, Christopher Malala, Simon Kanyi and Lucas Otieno were discharged from the cases.
Riungu clarified that Nzioka, Kanyi, Otieno, Njoroge, and Muchai were converted to prosecution witnesses under Section 87A of the criminal procedure CPC, which means if police find further evidence against them, they might be arrested.
