Juja MP by-election candidate George Koimburi on Monday denied forging academic papers.
Koimburi, who was at Kiambu police station, was charged virtually by chief magistrate Patricia Gichohi. Koimburi had presented himself to the police station on Monday for the court hearing.
The People's Empowerment Party candidate was accused that he obtained a KCSE certificate in November 1994, purporting it had been issued by the Kenya National Examinations Council.
He was also charged with forging a certificate of participation in October 2011, purporting it had been issued by Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
A third count states that between 2011 and 2012 he forged a certificate of academic excellence purporting to have been issued by JKUAT.
Koimburi was represented by Murang'a Senator Irungu Kang'ata, Cliff Ombeta and Geoffrey Omenke. They requested the court to lift a warrant of arrest issued against Koimburi, which is said to be in force, and prayed for a lenient bond.
The prosecution, led by Christine Mbevi, told the court they were not opposed to the application for bond and urged the court to give bond commensurate with the charges.
He denied the charges and was released on Sh100,000 bail
The magistrate set May 10, 2021, for a pretrial.
Kang'ata told journalists outside the police station that they read malice on the case, as the alleged offences are said to have been committed 27 years ago.
“He was not arrested in the first decade of 2004 and also the next decade of 2014. This case is purely political. We shall fight and the people of Juja should not be intimidated," he said.
Ombeta said the matter started 15 days ago.
“The officers told me that it was about some documents that had been presented by Koimburi. They confirmed that the same documents were the ones which were produced in 2013 and 2017 during the elections. It was to our surprise that they took the matter to court without summoning the person,” Ombeta said.
Ombeta said they received information that there was a warrant of arrest issued against Koimburi and wrote to the court that they would appear before it on April 26, 2021.
“We articulated our story in court that there are no summons in court and no affidavit. They brought a charge sheet so that they could get a warrant of arrest, which they succeeded. The court having listened and heard our argument, released the accused person on Sh100,000 cash bail,” Ombeta said.
Edited by A.N