The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has approved bribery charges against Senior Principal Magistrate Martin Kinyua Mutegibe, who was arrested in a sting operation last week.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

The senior principal magistrate, who worked at the Kangema Law Courts, was arrested by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on July 21, alongside Julius Irungu Njogu, a Senior Probation Officer also based at the court.

According to the ODPP, EACC has concluded its preliminary investigations and presented enough evidence against the two.

"Upon an independent and thorough review of the inquiry file, the DPP has established that there is sufficient evidence to charge the two suspects with the offence of Receiving a Bribe, contrary to Section 6(1) as read with Section 18(1) of the Anti-Bribery Act," ODPP said in a statement seen by Kenyans.co.ke .

📌 What You Need to Know

According to the statement, Renson Igonga, Director of Public Prosecutions, has ordered their immediate arraignment on charges of receiving a bribe.

"Consequently, the DPP has directed that the two suspects be charged immediately before a court of competent jurisdiction," the ODPP added.

The prosecution charges against the duo also followed an early-morning arraignment of the two before the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court over corruption charges, as confirmed by EACC.

According to the chargesheet obtained by Kenyans.co.ke beforehand, investigators allege that Martin Kinyua Mutegi solicited and received a Ksh150,000 bribe from a litigant in exchange for influencing the outcome of a criminal case.

This was after Julius Irungu had requested a Ksh170,000 bribe in exchange for a favourable sentence for a person of interest, who had already been convicted in a criminal case.

The court had freed Kinyua on bond last week, however, he was rearrested for his arraignment on Monday, July 27.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke