Former Roads and Transport CS Michael Kamau on Tuesday breathed a sigh of relief after the DPP withdrew charges he was facing in a Sh33 million corruption case.
Kamau was hounded out of office in 2015 during former President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration over graft. He was accused of causing the state to lose Sh33 million for failing to comply with tender regulations.
He denied the charges and was released on cash bail of Sh500,000. That was on June 4, 2015.
Eight years later, the Director of Public Prosecutions told the court there was insufficient evidence to sustain the case against the former CS, making him the latest civil servant to have his graft case withdrawn.
Kamau was in December appointed chairman of the National Health Insurance Fund Board of Directors by President William Ruto.
Senior principal magistrate Victor Wakumle allowed the application by the DPP, who said they did not have sufficient evidence to sustain the charges levelled against the former Transport CS.
The charges were withdrawn under section 87 (a) of the Criminal Procedure Code. The case against his co-accused persons Mwangi Maingi, former Chief Engineer of Roads and Nicholas Ndungu, a former resident engineer, will however proceed.
Kamau was on June 4, 2015, jointly arraigned before Nairobi Chief Magistrate’s Court facing various charges relating to corruption under the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act.
Subsequently, he proceeded to the High Court challenging the constitutionality of the charges on grounds that the EACC was not fully and properly constituted by the time a recommendation to charge him was made. After hearing the petition, the High Court dismissed the same.
Dissatisfied with that decision, Kamau moved to the Court of Appeal. The appellate court said the EACC was not properly constituted at the time it completed the investigations and forwarded its report and recommendations to the DPP.
"From the foregoing, anti-corruption constitutional edicts, the parties are at liberty to proceed as they deem necessary on the basis of a properly constituted EACC and within the dictates of the Constitution and the law,” the Court of Appeal said.
On the basis of the said judgment, the Chief Magistrate’s Court mentioned Kamau's matter for further directions.
While his counsel urged the trial court to acquit Kamau, the trial magistrate in his ruling on July 28, 2017, rejected the plea and instead discharged him with the obvious implication that Kamau could be re-arrested and charged afresh.
Aggrieved by this ruling, the petitioner once again moved to the High Court seeking to overturn the same and have him acquitted.
Unfortunately, his prayer was dismissed, culminating in an appeal to the Court of Appeal.
His prayers for further stay was dismissed. Subsequently, Kamau was summoned and appeared before Chief Magistrate’s Court on May 30, 2018, where he was charged afresh.
The charges indicated that on March 15, 2008, he wilfully failed to comply with the set rules by ignoring the design of Kamukuywa-Kaptama-Kapsokwony-Sirisia Road done by Engiconsult Limited at a cost of Sh33,303,600 and entering into a memorandum under which the resident engineer redesigned the same road without due process.
He denied the charges and was released on cash bail of Sh500,000.
The DPP has been on the receiving end over the withdrawal of high-profile graft cases. The move has earned him admirers and critics alike, with some questioning the independence of his office.
Some of the high-profile cases that have been discontinued include the murder case against former Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa, the Sh400 million graft charges against former Kenya Power MD Ben Chumo and his successor Ken Tarus and the charge of rape against then Meru Senator Mithika Linturi.
Others are the murder charge against Sarah Wairimu in the Tob Cohen murder, the corruption case against Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, and the Sh2.5 billion tax evasion case against businesswoman Mary Wambui.
The DPP also dropped charges against Keroche Breweries director Joseph Karanja, the husband of Nakuru Senator Tabitha Karanja, in a Sh14 billion tax dispute with the Kenya Revenue Authority.