Court allows DPP to withdraw charges in Sh293m graft case
Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga addresses the media in Nairobi on July 23, 2024.
A court has allowed Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Renson Ingonga to withdraw graft charges against nine people accused of stealing Sh292.7 million meant for a water project in Kitui County, saying, the move was justified.
Kitui Chief Magistrate David Mburu said the DPP was justified in terminating the charges in the public interest and to avoid abuse of the legal process.
Mr Mburu said the DPP had demonstrated that the alteration of the pipes for the Kinanie Leather Industrial Park Water Supply Project, which formed the basis for a number of charges against the suspects, was done through public participation.
The nine suspects, among them Fredrick Tito Mwamati, David Otieno Mwango, Duncan Mulandi, and Dickson Mugambi, alongside three companies were charged before a Kitui court over a Sh292.7 million tender awarded to Perma Structural Engineering Company Ltd, which Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) claimed was irregularly given.
One of the suspects was charged before a Kitui court on June 25, 2024 while the rest were arraigned on July 24 for plea-taking, which was deferred after they wrote to the DPP seeking a review of the decision to charge them.
In a notice on September 25, 2024 the DPP applied to withdraw the case under section 87(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code. The DPP said he decided to discontinue the criminal proceedings because there was no loss of public funds as the contractor was still on the ground undertaking the project and which was 91 percent complete.
Mr Ingonga informed the court that no further payments have been made to the contractor since they were charged and the pipe variation was done in the ordinary course of the project and approved.
The EACC opposed the withdrawal of the case, arguing that the procurement was irregular and the withdrawal of the charges was not in public interest.
The anti-graft agency added that the evidence was overwhelming and there was no new evidence exonerating any of the accused persons. But in its ruling, the court said the EACC cannot be the investigator and the complainant and that the State, which is the complainant, is represented by the DPP.
Mr Mburu said the EACC, while opposing the withdrawal of the charges, failed to table tangible evidence to demonstrate that what the DPP has determined to be the status of the project, was not true.
“After due consideration of all arguments, the court is satisfied that the DPP has presented proper justification for the decision to withdraw the case,” said the magistrate.
