FKF boss Nick Mwendwa’s court ruling on theft charge deferred
The fate of the Sh8.5million theft case against embattled Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Mwendwa will be known on November 11, 2022.
A decision in the Mwendwa case was stood over by three days after Kiambu trial magistrate Wilson Rading failed to turn up.
Besides the theft charge, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji intends to charge Mwendwa with conspiracy to defraud the football body Sh29.5million.
The prosecution led by Kiambu County Prosecutor Everlyne Onunga told Nairobi News and defence lawyers Charles Njenga, Eric Mutua, and Victor Omwebu, that Rading was away on official duties.
“The magistrate (Rading) is not sitting today.
He is away on official duties and he will be present on November 11, 2022,” Ms Onunga said.
Rading adjourned the case last week to today (November 8) saying the ruling which will pave way for the trial was not ready.
“The ruling on the plea by the DPP Noordin Haji to be allowed to try Mwendwa over theft is not ready. I will pronounce my decision on November 8, 2022,” stated Rading.
Mwendwa through lawyers Njenga, Omwebu and former LSK president Eric Mutua have opposed the fresh bid to prosecute him claiming it is an affront to his fundamental and constitutional rights.
Njenga, Omwebu and Mutua submitted before Rading that Mwendwa had been discharged in a graft case on July 6, 2022 and therefore it would be illegal to prosecute him on the same facts he had been freed.
Presenting a raft of evidence in support of the fresh case filed against Mwendwa, the DPP through Kiambu County prosecutor Ms Everlyn Onunga, said he has enough evidence to support and prove the theft charges against the soccer boss.
In the first theft charge, Mwendwa is alleged to have stolen KSh2,500,000 on May 15 2021 being the property of FKF when he was the president of the federation.
The second charge states, on March 4,2021 Mwendwa stole Sh5million the property of FKF when he served as its president.
The third indictment is that of stealing Sh1million on May 6, 2021 while the last count is of conspiring to defraud FKF Sh29,502,709 jointly with others, not before the court.
Ms Onunga told Kiambu senior resident magistrate Wilson Rading that the decision to charge Mwendwa was “informed by the sufficiency of evidence or record and the public interest and not any other consideration.”
Ms Onunga appearing alongside Ms Terry Kehoro presented to the court and to Mwendwa lawyers Eric Mutua,Charles Njenga and Victor Omwebu, 71 documents in support of the four charges.
The documentary evidence includes bank transactions from Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), NCBA, NIC Bank including the approved budget for FKF for three years.
“FKF approved budgets for the years 2018, 2019, and 2020 was Sh797,259,232 Sh1,241,991,520 and Sh1,004,565,145 respectively,” the inspection report of the FKF committee appointed by outgoing Sports CS Amina Mohammed shows.
Ms Onunga urged Rading to dismiss in its entirety the application by Mwendwa seeking to block the DPP from prosecuting him saying it has not met the threshold.
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