• The evidence is a witness statement recorded with the DCI by one David Washington Barnabas Ochieng dated December 21 last year.
• But in seeking its rejection, the East African Development Bank (EADB) said there is nothing to demonstrate the evidence was formally acquired from the DCI.
Image: FILE
A regional lender has claimed the new evidence former Cabinet Secretary Raphael Tuju seeks to introduce in a Sh2.2 billion debt case could have been illegally acquired and should be rejected.
In response to an application filed by Tuju at the Supreme Court, the East African Development Bank (EADB) states that there is nothing to demonstrate how the evidence of a statement from one of their officials was formally acquired by Tuju and his advocates from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
It’s on this ground that the bank says “there is a reasonable concern that they were improperly obtained and should be rejected”.
Tuju filed the application seeking an order to allow him present additional evidence in the case which arose from a Sh1.5 billion loan which he defaulted.
The evidence is a witness statement recorded with the DCI by one David Washington Barnabas Ochieng dated December 21 last year.
But in seeking its rejection, the Bank states that Tuju did not demonstrate how the witness statement is directly relevant to the case.
In an affidavit, Carol Luwaga said it is vital that the petition be dealt with urgently so that they can recover the debt.
She said the documents will not influence or impact on decision of the matter in court.
“More than four years have lapsed and we are yet to enjoy the fruits of the English high court judgment. The outstanding debt due from the petitioners continues to accrue due to interest as ordered in the English High Court judgment and order of June 2019."
Carol said Tuju had every available opportunity to introduce the evidence of the pre-contractual engagements between the parties in the course of the proceedings before both the High court and the Court of Appeal but they did not.
"All of the documents referred to in the further witness statement precede and predate the facility agreement. The same have been in the petitioner’s information, knowledge and possession.
"However, it is now through the further witness statement that the petitioners seek to introduce a statement as evidence on the pre-contract engagements between Tuju and the bank. This ought not to be allowed,” read the documents in part.
The ex-CS acquired the loan from the East Africa Development Bank where his children acted as guarantors.
The loan was meant for the construction of 12 two-storey bungalows, each worth Sh100 million.
The estate was to sit on a 20-acre forested land named Entim Sidai.
Part of the loan was also meant for the purchase of a 94-year-old bungalow built by a Scottish missionary, Dr Albert Patterson, which currently operates as a high-end restaurant.