A businessman charged for allegedly attempting to bribe former Nairobi governor, Mike Mbuvi Sonko, has been let off the hook by a Mombasa court.
Mombasa Chief Magistrate, Martha Mutuku, on Friday, July 29, dismissed the case against businessman Praful Kumar, pointing a finger at the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for failing to bring forth a single witness.
According to the Chief Magistrate, the case was done away with on the account that witnesses failed to show up.
"I dismiss the case against the accused person for non-attendance of witnesses," the Magistrate ruled.
In 2018, Kumar allegedly tried to give Sonko Ksh5 million to hasten the approval for a construction project when he was setting up the Grand Monar Hotel in Gigiri, Nairobi.
Justice Mutuku also noted that some of the witnesses in the case disregarded the court summons due to the ongoing campaigns.
Additionally, the Chief Magistrate declined a request by the DPP to charge the businessman in the future if the witnesses presented themselves.
"The DPP had enough time to produce the witnesses. Therefore, I term the request as non-logical," she emphasized.
From the court reports, the construction of the building had been halted before he was arrested by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and charged with bribery.
After his arrest, the accused was in and out of court in Mombasa and Nairobi. Kumar, however, pleaded not guilty to the offense.
When Kumar's advocate, Kennedy Marete, demanded data from the DPP, the public prosecutor stated that getting a person's private messages and calls would be infringing on their privacy.
