Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Dolphina Alego postponed a warrant of arrest she had issued on Tuesday until the High Court decided on the matter. Senior Counsel Fred Ojiambo presented the order to the magistrate, asserting that the High Court had stayed the trial because Okwara enjoys diplomatic immunity
The High Court has temporarily suspended the criminal trial of Isaack Nyongesa Okwara, a senior official at the East African Development Bank (EADB), who is involved in a Sh 4 billion commercial dispute with former Foreign Affairs Minister, Raphael Tuju. Justice Chacha Mwita granted a five-month stay on the trial, ordering the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Chief Magistrate’s Court not to proceed with the case until June 11.
Following this order, Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Dolphina Alego postponed a warrant of arrest she had issued on Tuesday until the High Court decided on the matter. Senior Counsel Fred Ojiambo presented the order to the magistrate, asserting that the High Court had stayed the trial because Okwara enjoys diplomatic immunity.
However, lawyer Duncan Okatch, representing the complainant, objected to the stay. He argued that the law does not protect criminal conduct. “My client, a former minister for foreign affairs, has lodged a lawful criminal claim against Okwara, who now seeks to evade justice by invoking diplomatic immunity. The law must take its course,” Okatch told the magistrate. He also indicated that Tuju has applied to the High Court to have the order protecting Okwara from prosecution overturned.
Okwara had been summoned to court to answer charges of providing false information to Inspector Dancun Maina on August 8, 2023. Okwara had claimed that Tuju, a director of Dari Limited, had made a false statement concerning a loan advanced by EADB to the former minister’s company. Upon discovering that Okwara had lied to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Tuju filed a claim against him.
The DPP, Renson Ingonga, has since drafted charges against Okwara for allegedly misleading the authorities in an attempt to have Tuju arrested and prosecuted. The magistrate also noted that Okwara had travelled to Uganda despite knowing that he was required to appear in court.
Okatch emphasised that the stay order issued by the High Court should not be interpreted as a licence for Okwara to disregard the court’s orders and avoid attending the proceedings.
On January 28, Milimani Chief Magistrate Susan Shitubi instructed Okwara to appear before Magistrate Alego to respond to charges of providing false information.
