Former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich is now a free man after the court found no evidence of financial misconduct in the Ksh 63 billion Arror and Kimwarer dam case.
Rotich and other eight co-accused persons were set free in a Thursday, December 14 ruling by Anti-corruption Chief Magistrate Nyutu who said the prosecution had failed to lead the case.
During the ruling, Nyutu said,
“On the charge of committing financial misconduct, there is no evidence of payment in the case of Kimwarer and Arror Multipurpose Dam projects or that the same was made without proof of authority, if at all.”
Nyutu further stated that there was no evidence tabled in court to show that the former CS and eight others failed to follow procurement laws in the Ksh 63 billion Arror and Kimwarer dams case.
She ruled,
“All the accused persons in this case are thereby acquitted under section 201 due to lack of evidence as a result of the reckless dereliction of duty by the prosecution.”
The court blamed the prosecution for leading 8 witnesses only out of the 49 witnesses they had intended to call on the stand.
“This would appear to be a prosecution-led acquittal,” said Magistrate Nyutu.
Happy ending for Rotich and eight others
An elated Rotich was seen exiting the court, happy about the ruling of a case that has dragged him through court for several years since July 2019 when he was arrested.
He said,
“The devil has been permanently ashamed…No amount of posion, lies, I survived. I will give a more detailed reaction later.”
On November 20, the former treasury cabinet secretary asked the court to set him free arguing that the narrative of money being lost or stolen was fiction. He argued that the prosecution failed to prove its case by failing to call all its witnesses in the case.
The other eight co-accused persons included Kennedy Nyakundi Nyachiro, Jackson Njau Kinyanjui, David Kipchumba Kimosop, William KiPkemboi Maina, Paul Kipkoech Serem, Francis Chepkonga Kipkech, Titus Murithi and Geoffrey Mwangi Wahungu.
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