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I was framed, Kericho magistrate charged with bribery says

Kericho magistrate Ms Judith Nyakol Achieng and court clerk Robert Cheruiyot when they appeared in a Nakuru court on October 26, 2015. The two are accused of soliciting a Sh20,000 bribe. FILE PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH |

What you need to know:

  • The two were arrested in August last year by EACC detectives at the Kericho law courts.
  • Mr Mongeri poked holes into evidence presented in court by the prosecution saying it lacked credibility.

A Kericho magistrate fighting bribery charges now claims she was framed by anti-corruption officers.

Ms Judith Akinyi Nyagol, through her lawyer David Mongeri, told a Nakuru Court that Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) detectives conspired with an accused person to frame her in the case.

The magistrate and her court clerk Mr Robert Cheruiyot have denied soliciting Sh20, 000 bribe from Mr Wilson Yegon, a trader accused of running a bar at the Brooke Trading Centre within Kericho town without a licence.

According to the prosecution, they took the bribe as an inducement for the magistrate to give a favourable ruling in the case against Mr Yegon.

The two were arrested in August last year by EACC detectives at the Kericho law courts. The anti-corruption officers claimed they had been tipped off.

But appearing before Senior Principal Magistrate Ms Liz Gicheha, the magistrate’s lawyer urged the court to drop the bribery case against the two saying prosecutors had failed to link the suspects to the charges.

“The evidence is palpably missing even after the prosecution called 10 witnesses to testify, among them anti-corruption officers who arrested them,” Mr Mongeri argued.

Mr Mongeri poked holes into evidence presented in court by the prosecution saying it lacked credibility.

He took issue with the manner in which a recording of a conversation between the court clerk and the complainant Mr Yegon was translated from Kipsigis language to English, arguing that it was tailored to frame the two accused persons.

The magistrate and her clerk, have denied soliciting the bribe. The Judicial officers have since been interdicted pending hearing and determination of their case.

A senior EACC officer, who testified earlier told the court that they recovered a Sh10,000 bribe from the magistrate’s handbag in her chambers.