Since President William Ruto’s administration took office, high-profile corruption and tax evasion cases running into billions of shillings have been withdrawn or dismissed, raising concerns among Kenyans on whether the current administration is serious about fighting corruption.
In less than five months since the new government took office, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has dropped a number of publicly known corruption and criminal cases involving high-profile individuals.
In some instances, the exonerated individuals who were facing serious graft charges have been appointed to government positions shortly after being set free.
The DPP Noordin Haji has defended his moves to withdraw the cases most of which stating during former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration citing frustrations from investigators and witnesses who recanted their statements.
He has accused the investigators of failing to provide enough evidence
On the question of why he allowed the criminal cases to be filed without conclusive evidence, Haji defended himself stating that he authorized the prosecution of the cases to begin based on the evidence he was given at the time.
Some of the beneficiaries from the DPP’s recent series of court case withdrawals are allies of President Ruto who claim that the cases were intended to punish them for associating with and supporting the president.
Here are some high-profile cases were withdrawn so far
Gachagua’s Ksh7.3B case
Top on the list of withdrawn cases is that of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua who was facing graft charges of over Ksh7.3 billion.
The DPP told stated that there was no full disclosure of evidence in the case by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) hence their decision and investigations into the matter were not complete.
The investigating officer also claimed that he was under pressure from former DCI boss George Kinoti to charge the DP and his fellow accused persons.
Gachagua and nine others were accused of fraudulently receiving Ksh7,330,011,265 through three bank accounts domiciled at Rafiki Micro-Finance bank between 2013 and 2020 while knowing the monies were proceeds of crime.
He was also accused that on December 29, 2014, in Nairobi County, jointly with others fraudulently acquired Ksh6 million in public funds for the supply of Dialysis machines to Nyeri Provincial General Hospital.
NHIF ex-CEO’s Ksh1.1B case
Another high-profile case withdrawn is that of former National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) chief executive officer Geoffrey Mwangi over a Ksh1.1 billion corruption scandal. The case which involved procurement irregularities of an online payment system at the state-run insurer was withdrawn in January 2023.
The DPP while withdrawing the case said no money was lost in the award of the contentious tender to an online payment company nine years ago. The DPP also withdrew the charges against Mwangi after finding that there was no sufficient evidence to sustain the trial and that the procurement for service for the provision of the Integrated Revenue Collection System by NHIF was done in accordance with the stipulated law and guidelines.
Wambui’s Ksh2.2 billion tax case
Also withdrawn is the Ksh2.2 billion tax evasion case against Communications Authority of Kenya board chair Mary Wambui Mungai. The Kenya Revenue Authority had accused her of tax evasion through her company, Purma Holdings.
The DPP withdrew the case after receiving a letter confirming Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) together with Wambui and her daughter Purity Njoki had concluded the out-of-court negotiations that commenced in October 2022.
The prosecution urged the court to withdraw the criminal charges saying the tax arrears dispute had been settled outside court as KRA wished not to proceed with the trial.
Wambui and her daughter had been charged as directors of Purma Holdings Limited over alleged failure to pay taxes amounting to Ksh 2,231,789,125.
Kenya Power’s Ksh400M case
Haji dropped corruption charges against former Kenya Power managing director Ben Chumo, his successor Ken Tarus, and nine others over the procurement of Ksh400 million worth of transformers that investigators had described as faulty.
Chumo is yet to resume his position as Kenya Power Managing Director.
Jumwa’s Ksh19M case
Public Service Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa who was facing charges of conspiring to commit fraud by illegally paying Ksh19 million had her charges withdrawn under section 87 (a) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) after her nomination by President Ruto to the cabinet.
The prosecution through Senior state counsel Alex Akula informed Mombasa chief magistrate Martha Mutuku that he was under instructions to apply for withdrawal of charges for the first accused person namely Jumwa.
“I have instructions to move the court with an application on review of charges and that is specified on the first accused person the final directive is to have her name removed and the case against eight suspects who had been charged alongside Jumwa to proceed,” Akula said.
In the matter, Jumwa is accused of conspiracy to commit fraud through payment of Ksh19 million to Multiserve contractors with respect to tender number MLD/NG-CDF/01/2017/2018 of Malindi NG-CDF.
Others who faced corruption charges are Kenya Pipeline Corporation acting managing director Joe Sang was acquitted in a Ksh1.9 billion corruption case and former National Olympics Committee of Kenya official Stephen arap Soi over the loss of Sh55 million in the Rio 2016 Olympics scandal crumbled after the High Court quashed his conviction and a 17-year prison term.
