A Principal Secretary serving in the State Department of Devolution is facing life imprisonment if convicted of a charge of causing grievous harm to his wife.
The PS had moved to the High Court to stop his prosecution, but Justice Anthony Mrima dismissed his petition citing that the state was in order in preferring charges against him.
On Thursday, November 11, Justice Mrima stated that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) did not violate any laws for charging the PS with the offence of assault and injuring his estranged wife at a time when she was pregnant.
The PS had sought to stop the DPP and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) from arresting and prosecuting him in connection with the offence terming it illegal, in bad faith and infringement of his constitutional right.
His lawyers also argued that the case was in bad faith and told the court that the PS could lose his job. The PS had argued that the prosecution was being used to coerce him to settle a matrimonial property score.
"The petitioner has not shown how the DPP violated the constitution by authorising his prosecution, further, if the court quashes or grants the orders sought, it will frustrate the rule of law," Justice Mrima ruled.
The PS also risks losing his plum job in line with Chapter Six of the Constitution as well as the Leadership and Integrity Act stating "any appointed state officer automatically goes on suspension after taking a plea in a criminal case".
Justice Mrima also quashed orders issued on February 24, 2021, that had temporarily barred the arrest of the PS.
Court documents indicated that the PS's wife reported the assault incident to Hardy Police Station in Karen on November 20, 2018. A medical examination report dated November 20, 2018, revealed that she suffered bruises in the abdomen, the forearm and the legs while she was pregnant.
A P3 form, signed by the police surgeon based at the police headquarters also revealed that she sustained thorax and abdomen injuries.
Already, the victim has filed a divorce against the PS. The PS also faces a separate case in the children’s court filed in 2020 over his kids' upkeep.
The PS previously served in the State Department of Infrastructure in the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing, Urban Development, and Public Works having been appointed in February 2018.
