The High Court has quashed a request by Neno Evangelism Center founder pastor James Ng'ang'a to strike out an appeal filed by the state over the death of a woman through dangerous driving.
Ng'ang'a and three others had appealed to strike out the case, arguing that an appeal was filed outside the 14-day timeline provided by the law.
The High Court in Kiambu allowed the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to proceed with the appeal though it was filed late.
The case is also yet to be admitted by the court as required by the Criminal Procedure Code.
Justice Mary Kasango in her ruling stated that Ng'ang'a, Simon Maina Kuria and police officers Christopher Nzilu Nzioka and Patrick Kahindi Baya should be raised at the final hearing of the criminal appeal.
Kuria and the two police officers were charged with trying to defeat justice through an attempted cover-up.
Justice Kasango stated that there was confusion on the date in which the court issued its ruling and when the appeal was lodged.
The mix up comes when Ng'ang'a and the trio were acquitted on May 4, 2018, but the court ended up giving reasons for their acquittal on May 7, 2018.
Ng'ang'a and the three others were acquitted from charges of presenting false witness and causing the death of Mercy Njeri through dangerous driving back in July 2015 along the Nairobi-Naivasha highway.
According to Justice Kasango, Pastor Ng'ang'a and his co-accused would have succeeded in seeking dismissal of the appeal if they waited to raise their objections at the final hearing of the appeal.
The then Director of Public Prosecution, Keriako Tobiko ordered the arrest of Pastor Ng'ang'a over the accident in which Mercy Njeri died while her husband Martin Mbugua Ndung’u survived with injuries at Manguo area in Limuru.
Back in May 2018, Ng’ang’a was briefly acquitted in the case after Nakuru Chief Magistrate Godfrey Odour stated that the prosecution had failed to prove it’s case against the four hence they had no case to answer.
