The Anti-Corruption Court has acquitted former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich and eight others indicted in the Ksh 63 billion Arror and Kimwarer dams scandal.
In the ruling made on Thursday, December 14, Magistrate Eunice Nyutu said that no evidence was adduced to prove that Rotich and his co-accused committed an offence for financial misconduct.
Further, the magistrate called out the prosecution side for what she called dereliction of duty in their handling of the case.
“No evidence was adduced to show that there was a payment of 75,423,000 Euros in respect of Kimwarer multipurpose dam and that the same was made was made without lawful authority if at all,” she ruled.
“The accused persons in this case are hereby acquitted under section 210 due to lack of evidence as a result of the reckless dereliction of duty by the prosecution.”
When asked to comment about the ruling, Rotich excused himself noting that he needed to take a rest first.
The ruling came as a relief for the ex-Treasury boss as was manifested in the momentarily celebrations after the judge read her ruling.
Rotich had in 2021 been charged with conspiracy to defraud Sh63 billion in the Arror and Kimwarer dams case.
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Rotich caught in Arror& Kimwarer controversy
His tribulations commenced in 2019 when the then Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji pressed charges against him and other senior officials at the Treasury on allegations of flouting procurement rules in the projects.
Also Read: Ruto Pledges To Resume Construction Of Arror, Kimwarer Dams
Also among those initially indicted were former Treasury Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge and former East Africa Community PS Susan Jemutai Koech.
However, the DPP dropped charges against Thugge and Koech noting that they had agreed to testify in the case.
The two proposed dams have been shrouded in controversy that has seen senior government officials and political factions point accusing fingers at each other.
Also Read: Government to Resume Construction of Arror and Kimwarer Dams Following Agreement with Italy
Speaking ahead of the 2022 elections, President William Ruto affirmed that no money was lost in the procurement stage of the two projects.
While responding to questions during the Presidential debate in in July 2022, the President said that the truth would eventually be in the public.
This even as the then President Uhuru Kenyatta continued to raise alarm alluding that the money was plundered by politicians.
