Update: July 7, 2022: 1:56 pm: The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has released a statement on the arrest of embattled former FKF president Nick Mwendwa.
ODDP acknowledged that Mwendwa's case was withdrawn for lack of sufficient evidence, but insisted that he was not acquitted. It added that Mwendwa was rearrested after a review of the evidence ODPP submitted to the courts.
“In line with Article 50 of the Constitution on fair hearing which mandates the prosecution to disclose all material/evidence that comes within its possession to the accused person and in the interest of the administration of justice, the matter was withdrawn to enable the prosecution review the additional evidence and fulfil its Constitutional duty of Disclosure.”
ODPP announced that it was thus ready to charge Mwendwa afresh. The suspect will take a plea on Monday, July 11.
Former Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president, Nick Mwendwa, has been arrested.
Mwendwa was arrested on Thursday, July 7, just a day after the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) dropped a graft case against him.
However, Kenyans.co.ke was unable to verify the circumstances under which Mwendwa was arrested.
Reports indicated that he was taken to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters along Kiambu Road for interrogation.
Reports further indicated that he will be presented at the Kiambu Law Courts to face the fresh charges.
When dropping the charges on Wednesday, July 6, ODPP stated that it was exploring possibilities of levelling different charges against him.
Milimani Anti-corruption Chief Magistrate Eunice Nyuttu set Mwendwa free, citing lack of sufficient evidence.
She further declined adjourning the matters further.
"I hereby discharge Nick Mwendwa under section 87(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) for failure by the DPP to avail evidence before this court," the magistrate ruled.
Nyuttu argued that the DPP abused the court process by charging and presenting Mwendwa without evidence.
The former FKF boss was accused of embezzling Ksh38 million with his proxies.
His first arrest led to the disbarndment of the Football Kenya Federation, with Sports CS Amina Mohamed arguing that she was restructuring the federation.
Amina appointed a caretaker committee which FIFA declined to recognise hence banning Kenya from participating in international football.
