- The former CS said Kimwarer and Arror projects should be revived for the benefit of Kenyans.
- Rotich said he did not know the majority of the people who testified at the court.
Image: DOUGLAS OKIDDY
Former National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich has blamed retired President Uhuru Kenyatta for the woes he faced over the Arror and Kimwarer dams project.
Even as he pointed a finger at the retired President, the former CS maintained that no money was in the project.
He said the two projects should be revived for the benefit of Kenyans.
“There was some choreographed intention here. The turn of events could give you an indication but it did not occur to me at first that the charges were politically instigated,” he said.
“The matter was sort of politicised later, giving me an indication that there was extraneous consideration to charge me.”
Speaking to KTN News, Rotich sought to assure Kenyans that no money was lost in the project.
“I was the CS. I want to tell Kenyans that you cannot lose Sh63 billion What was expended was only the advance payment to the contractor an amount of Sh7.5 billion, Sh3.4 billion for Kimwarer and Sh4.1 billion for Arror,” he explained.
Rotich said he did not know the majority of the people who testified at the court.
“I did not know the majority of the witnesses. Some of them were from the Kerio Valley Development Authority and I had never met or associated with them. I never knew where they lived,” he said.
Rotich and eight other co-accused persons are now free after an acquittal in the Sh63 billion Arror and Kimwarer.
In the December 14, 2023 ruling, Magistrate Eunice Nyutu said the prosecution had failed to lead the case.
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 Sh63 billion Arror and Kimwarer dams case.
However, the court blamed the prosecution for leading 8 witnesses only out of the 49 witnesses they had intended to call.
"This would appear to be a prosecution-led acquittal," said Nyutu.
"All the accused persons in this case were acquitted under section 201 due to lack of evidence as a result of the reckless dereliction of duty by the prosecution," she ruled.
He had been charged with 19 counts that included abuse of office, conspiracy to commit an economic crime, conferring a benefit and single sourcing for the insurance of the projects, and approving payment contrary to the law.
Rotich was suspended in July 2019 alongside his then Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge in the wake of the corruption allegations.
Thugge is now the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) governor.