A Naivasha court has acquitted nine suspects charged with causing the deaths of 48 people following the Solai dam tragedy two years ago.
Naivasha Chief Magistrate Kennedy Bidali set the nine free for lack of ‘willingness’ and support from the DPP office in prosecuting the case.
Minutes after making the ruling, the suspects who include Perry Manusukh Kanasagara, the farm owner and government officers were left smiling after months of waiting.
But on the other side of the court, victims of the tragedy who include grannies who had camped in the court since the case started were left in tears as they pondered their next move.
The magistrate lay the blame squarely on the office of the ODPP noting that months since the case started little progress had been made with adjournments being the order of the day.
In his 45 minutes ruling, Bidali accused the prosecution of holding the court hostage by failing to appear in court on several occasions.
He noted that the nine accused deserved fair trial which could not be given due to various adjournments by the prosecution.
“The court has on various occasions set aside twelve days for the case to be heard only for the prosecution to miss out without giving a proper explanation,” he said.
While acquitting the suspects, the magistrate noted that 18 months since the case kicked off, the office of the DPP had failed to produce a single witness or witness statement.
“No court should be held ransom by the office of the DPP and the accused have the right to fair and speedy trial but the prosecution has time and again proved it was not ready to handle this case,” he said.
Bidali noted that the ODPP had last year indicated that it was seeking a plea bargain with the owner of the farm but no report had been made to the court in relation to this.
In the case, the Manusukh and the others are charged with 48 counts of manslaughter and failing to prepare an environmental impact assessment report.
The other eight are Vinoj Jaya Kumar, Johnson Njuguna, Luka Kipyegen, Winnie Muthoni, Jacinta Were, Tomkin Odo Odhiambo, Willie Omondi and Lynette Cheruiyot.
Addressing the court on behalf of the defense team, advocate F.I Mburu said that justice had been done after months of suffering for the nine.
“In the period the nine suspects have not missed any single day and we are asking the court to discharge the sureties of the accused,” he said.
Soon after the ruling, State counsel Catherine Mwaniki said that they would be heading to court to appeal the ruling by the lower court.
