Advocate Peter Wanyama has told off DPP Noordin Haji over his statement that is a state witness in the case against Senior Counsel Tom Ojienda.
Wanyama, a former partner of Ojienda’s, termed the DPP’s statement a “careful media strategy”. Haji had said the advocate will testify against Ojienda in the Sh89 million Mumias Sugar fake legal fees case.
On Thursday, the DPP said Wanyama would be a state witness in the case whose investigations were halted until February 18.
The DPP further denied claims that the lawyer was arrested together with Ojienda on December 28.
“ODPP wishes to confirm that Peter Wanyama, advocate, will be a prosecution witness after analysing his statements and will testify in the case against Prof Tom Ojienda,” the DPP said.
Wanyama worked with Ojienda in the same law firm before resigning in January 2012.
He told a local Daily that when he visited the DCI, he only clarified issues the investigators wanted to know. “This is a careful media strategy by DPP. Odek has not recorded a statement. My statement responded to the charge I was to face (that we never did a legal audit). I can never testify against Prof Ojienda,” he said.
Dear @ODPP_KE do you have a statement from Prof Odek indicating his willingness to be a prosecution witness against @ProfOjiendaTom if you do, please avail.
Also, has Peter Wanyama really agreed to be a witness? Kindly avail the statement for public consumption too.
— SokoAnalyst (@SokoAnalyst) January 3, 2019
Earlier in a media statement he said, “I clarified the issues the investigators wanted to know to their satisfaction and left DCI. I did so because as lawyers we too have a duty to assist investigators on matters that are lawfully seized of. We are not above the law”.
Ojienda has been accused of falsely obtaining money from Mumias Sugar Company through fake legal cases and numbers.