One Rev David Gathanju was the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) moderator from 2009 to 2015. During his tenure, Rev Gathanju and two former church employees were accused of stealing Sh40 million from Cess Levy.
Senior Principal Magistrate Stella Atambo was to hear the case for three days. But the theft case against Gathanju failed to start Tuesday when prosecutors applied to amend the charges.
Defence lawyers said the intended changes, which will see the amount increased by Sh10 million, prevented them from proceeding as they needed more time to prepare.
His fellow accused Mr James Muiruri and Mr Peter Kamuthu have already denied stealing Sh39.9 million between January 2,
State counsels Christine Mbevi and Thomas Matwa told the court that they had instructions to amend the charges to increase the stolen amount to sh50.9 million. Prosecutors said they would also add seven counts to charges against Mr Kamuthu.
The case was to begin in November 2017 but was delayed over a litany of instructions from the Director of Public Prosecutions. Defence lawyers Danstan Omari, John Njuguna, Kimani Wakimaa and Stanley Kangahi accuse the DPP of unwillingness to proceed with the case.
The case failed to be heard on August 7, 8 and 9, 2018 when the DPP applied for adjournment. The lawyers said they were only made aware of the changes when the case was about to begin.
Mr Wakimaa said in the 13 times his clients have appeared in court, prosecutors always came up with excuses to have the matter adjourned.
“I believe it is the lawyers holding brief for the complainant who have been frustrating the prosecution in a bid to have Rev Gathanju in the dock for long in order to embarrass him,” Mr Wakimaa said.
Mr Omari said he had just been informed of the changes. “There was no time to prepare my response, considering the magnitude of the offences,” he said. The parties will agree on Wednesday if the hearing is to proceed.