Big blow to televangelist James Ng’ang’a after court declined to withdraw his Sh3.6 million fraud case.
This come after the Director of Public Prosecutor (DPP) opposed the Ng’ang’a ‘s application saying he had no instructions to withdraw the case.
The DPP, through prosecution counsel Abel Omariba, requested the court to allow him more time to go through the letter of consent and present it to the DPP for instructions before the case can be withdrawn.
Milimani senior principal magistrate David Ndungi agreed with the prosecution and said that the powers to have any matter withdrawn lie with the DPP.
The court directed the complainant to appear in court as State Prosecutor continues consulting the DPP on whether to initiate a process of withdrawing the case after the parties reached a consensual agreement.
“Article 157 of the constitution 2010 says that the DPP has the authority to terminate a case, I find that it unnecessary to record the statements of the complainant for the said settlement without the consent of the DPP. The current prosecutor needs time to consult with the authority concerning withdrawal of this matter,” the magistrate ruled.
Ng’ang’a was arrested on April 6, 2016 at his Neno Evangelism church office along Haile Selassie Avenue for obtaining Sh3.6 million from businessman Wickson Njoroge Mwathi by falsely pretending he would lease a 17-bedroom house to him in Karen, Nairobi.
Testifying before Senior Resident Magistrate David Ndungi, Mwathi said he personally checked out the house and negotiated for rent with the accused.
“I was satisfied with the house and I took my client the next day who was also satisfied with the house,” said Mwathi. “I told Catherine, and another person, to negotiate on my behalf. The landlord (Ng’ang’a) was not known to me by then.”
The court was told that with the help of his lawyer, Mwathi signed a contract with Ng’ang’a at the preacher’s office located at the Uhuru Highway – Haile Selassie Avenue junction.
The businessman testified that he left the cash with his advocate to bank with the landlord (Ng’ang’a) and proceeded to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for a meeting.
However, he was stood down after the prosecution sought an adjournment to have the lawyer, who banked the money into Ng’ang’as account, record a statement.
The investigating officer however, did not take his statement promting the prosecution counsel, Abel Omariba to request for an adjournment to have his statement recorded.
Ng’ang’a’s lawyer, however, opposed the request, saying the case was old and the prosecution had time to record the statement since 2016.
Justice Ndungi agreed with the prosecution and ordered that the investigating officer records a statement from the lawyer and adjourned the case to September 7, 2021.
Ndungi also directed the prosecution to serve the accused with the witness statement within 14 days, and objected to an application by Nganga’s lawyer to have the case heard in-camera.
The magistrate said that the media has a right to cover the proceedings within the confines of the law.
Nganga is currently out on a Sh500,000 cash bail and his case will be mentioned on October 14.