A prolonged legal battle over the academic qualifications of Kapsaret MP Oscar Sudi has encountered a significant setback due to the reassignment of the trial magistrate by Chief Justice Martha Koome.
As a consequence of this change, Sudi’s legal representatives will now petition the chief justice to authorize Chief Magistrate Felix Kombo to bring the case to its conclusion, as it was nearing its resolution.
Defense counsel Thomas Rutto implored Milimani Anti-corruption Chief Magistrate Thomas Nzioki for an extension, allowing them more time to correspond with the CJ regarding this matter.
Rutto expressed the necessity for the intervention of the CJ to ensure that Magistrate Kombo can finalize the proceedings.
“We respectfully request the court to grant us time to correspond with the CJ, urging her intervention in permitting the transferred magistrate to conclude the case, considering its advanced stage,” Ruto conveyed.
He further indicated that the cross-examination of the investigating officer was scheduled to occur before the prosecution’s case was brought to a close.
State prosecutor Joseph Riungu lent support to the prosecution’s plea.
Riungu informed Nzioki that the case had remained unresolved in the court system for an extended period, emphasizing that justice would be best served through the completion of the trial by Magistrate Kombo.
“It is documented that the trial magistrate, Kombo, has exhorted all involved parties to expedite the proceedings, given that the case has lingered in the court’s purview since 2016,” Riungu underscored.
Magistrate Nzioki, however, advised the parties to formally address him with their request to be relayed to the CJ.
He noted the substantial volume of the proceedings and his concurrent responsibility to manage numerous other pending cases.
The magistrate directed that the case be brought up for mention on August 31, 2023, to ascertain whether Chief Justice Koome had communicated her determination regarding the authorization for Kombo to conclude the trial.
READ ALSO: Is Everything Okay Between President Ruto and Long-Time Confidant Oscar Sudi?
This new development emerged just as the final witness, the investigating officer, was poised to present all purportedly falsified academic certificates of Sudi in court for cross-examination.
During his testimony on July 21, 2023, investigating officer Derrick Kaisha from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) asserted that Sudi had counterfeited his academic credentials to secure his nomination for the parliamentary seat in the 2013 General Election.
Kaisha presented the court with documents from various educational institutions, supporting the allegations that MP Sudi had fabricated his KCSE and Diploma certificates from the Kenya Institute Management (KIM) in Business Management, despite not having attended those courses.
The officer further unveiled that Sudi had not taken his KCSE examination at Highway Secondary School, nor had he pursued studies at KIM, where he claimed to have earned a Business Management Diploma.
Sudi faces multiple charges of falsifying his academic documents, which he submitted to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for eligibility to contest the parliamentary seat.
Chief Justice Martha Koome is now anticipated to make a determination on whether the case of academic certificate forgery against Kapseret Member of Parliament Oscar Sudi will proceed with a new magistrate or not.
