Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) employee was on Tuesday afternoon arraigned at the Shanzu Magistrate’s Court in Mombasa for allegedly assaulting his wife.
Norman Oduor Adong is alleged to have committed the crime on September 1 at one of their residences in Nyali, Mombasa.
He denied the allegations and was released on Sh30,000 bond plus a similar amount of surety or an alternative cash bail of Sh10,000.
The victim, Maureen Guoma, was represented by senior counsel Jared Magolo.
Magolo told the court after the suspect assaulted his client, he allegedly went ahead to steal Sh21,000 from her phone before taking other properties from the house and a further Sh18,000 in cash.
“A second report was made at the Nyali police station before he (Adong) refunded the monies through another person,” claimed Magolo.
On Tuesday, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) applied to have the plea deferred for 30 days to allow for the parties to settle the matter out of court using an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism.
Magolo however raised concerns over the DPP’s application, saying the victim was not consulted and there was no attempt to contact her.
He questioned why officers, who are supposed to protect victims, were forcing her into a reconciliation meeting.
“The decision was done without consulting the complainant,” Magolo claimed.
He raised questions as to why the investigating officers had informed his client that the plea was scheduled for Tuesday, September 12, yet they had planned it to take place on Monday, September 11.
He argued that there was no room for reconciliation.
“The complainant is being forced to reconcile yet the person in question is not even concerned. I pray that the court gives tough bond terms and the accused be restrained from accessing the victim directly or indirectly to threaten her,” he said.
The DPP had requested for the matter to be deferred for 30 days for the two parties to have an out-of-court settlement.
They said that they need time to investigate the accusations and counter accusations arising from both parties including alleged police misinformation to the complainant and allegations that the accused threatened the complainant.
The prosecution further stated that it was not a unique case where the DPP had asked for a plea to be deferred, further stating that the office has no issue in the matter and neither supports the accused.
“We are requesting for time to investigate and look into the issues raised by both parties. We don’t understand how the media was involved in this but just to make it clear so that we are not misquoted. We are not in support of the victim and the DPP has no issue in the matter,” said the prosecution counsel.
She further argued that taking of plea was going to prejudice the office as such assault matters do not attract so much attention from the parties and the media.
Adong through his advocates had argued that he was ready to resolve the matter out of court for the sake of their children.
He argued that once a plea is taken and the matter proceeds to trial, it will break the family and the children will be the ones to suffer the most.
“He is not a bad person as portrayed. He wants to preserve the basic unit of society, but once a plea is taken, that is the surest way to break this family,” said his advocate.
His advocates asked for the plea taking to be deferred for thirty days to give room for an out-of-court settlement, after which if no solution is found then the matter can proceed in court.
However, Shanzu Senior Principal Magistrate Yusuf Shikanda put to task the prosecution team to explain how the office will be prejudiced if the suspect takes a plea on Tuesday.
He questioned why the prosecution registered and approved a charge knowing they were not ready.
He dismissed the prayer saying that taking a plea would not prevent the DPP from conducting investigations.
Shikanda said the prosecution’s request for mediation does not hold water because the complainant was not ready for negotiations and ADR cannot be forced.
“If the family did not break when the accused was arrested, why will it break with taking a plea? I decline the invitation to be involved in the circus. For now, plea shall be taken,” he directed.
The suspect denied the charge and was released on bond terms.
The matter will come back on November 23.