On Thursday next week, the National Court will decide whether or not to drop misappropriation charges against Komo-Magarima MP, Francis Potape.
Today his lawyer, Justin Haiara, presented a submission of No Case to Answer after the retrial ended yesterday.
Haiara argued that there is no sufficient evidence for the court to convict Potape.
He told the court this afternoon that there was no hard evidence to prove the state’s allegations.
The state alleges that between November 1-30, 2010 in Mendi, Potape, the then Chairman of the Komo-Magarima Joint District Planning and Budget Priority Committee consented with members of the committee and dishonestly applied a sum of K330,000 as sitting allowance.
From the total, K60,000 was alleged have been paid to Potape, and K270 000 was alleged to be paid to the committee members.
Of the five state witnesses, Haiara told the court that two failed to prove the essential elements of the offence. One witness’s evidence statements were only his opinion drawn from his audit investigation.
Haiara concluded that the state’s evidence was insufficient or incomplete, and as such, the charges cannot be sustained.
However, the state submitted that there is still sufficient evidence and it is circumstantial.
