This appeal was well-taken on the point whether, in the case of nine counts alleging a specific offence (eight counts of theft and one count of attempted theft), it was proper to add a count of conspiracy as an alternative. So, for example on the first count, it was alleged that three persons, of whom the present appellant is one, jointly stole Kshs 97,655 the property of the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya. The alternative count stated that the three men conspired to defraud the Pyrethrum Board of Kshs 97,655. Similarly seven succeeding charges of the theft of a specific sum of money, were followed by an alternative count charging a conspiracy to defraud the Board of that sum of money. The last and ninth count alleged an attempted theft of Kshs 270,754.50 and the alternative count alleged a conspiracy to defraud the Pyrethrum Board of that Particular sum of money.
When the trial started before the Principal Magistrate on June 3, 1987, the prosecutor applied to put in a substituted charge whi…