Drama unfolded at Nyando Law Courts when a prosecution witness refused to testify against a man charged with malicious damage to property, saying he did not know the accused and had reported a different suspect to police.
Andrew Matoka told resident magistrate Joash Mitei that Dominic Okoth, who has denied the charge, was not the man he had reported to Boya police station after finding a herd of cattle on his farm.
Matoka also disputed the statement contained in the police file, saying it was not the one he had given to investigators.
He told the court that the statement bore a different signature from his and said he had made several trips to Boya police station in an attempt to have the correct suspect arrested, but his efforts had been unsuccessful.
The witness said his original statement had been recorded in a small exercise book, while the document presented in court was written on a full sheet of paper.
He insisted that he could not testify against an innocent person who had done him no wrong.
“Your Honour, I do not even know him, so I cannot testify against an innocent man,” Matoka told the court.
Magistrate Mitei asked whether the witness was declining to testify against the accused, prompting Matoka to reiterate that he did not know Okoth.
The magistrate ordered Okoth’s release under Section 87(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code, adding that he could be rearrested if new evidence emerged. The court also ordered that his cash bail be refunded.
Asked whether he wished to comment on the ruling, Okoth said he had nothing to say before leaving the court a free man.
He, however, expressed concern over complaints from members of the public that people other than those they had reported to police were sometimes brought before the courts.
Mitei said the practice should not be encouraged.
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