AfriPulse
Former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero has been acquitted of corruption charges in the Ksh213 million case, after the Nairobi Anti-Corruption Court ruled that the prosecution failed to prove any wrongdoing on his part.
Delivering the verdict on Thursday, Senior Principal Magistrate Victor Wakumile ruled that the evidence presented did not prove beyond reasonable doubt that Kidero had either authorised or benefited from the payments made to the two companies for goods and services allegedly never supplied.
“The court finds that Count 1–17, all are acquitted under Section 210,” the magistrate ruled.
Section 210 of the Criminal Procedure Code gives the court discretion to discharge a case where the prosecution evidence is not sufficient. Kidero, the first county governor of Nairobi from 2013 to 2017, had been charged alongside 10 former county officials and several business associates.
The prosecution had maintained the accused conspired to authorise illegal payments amounting to Ksh213,327,300 to Lodwar Wholesalers Ltd and Ngurumani Traders Ltd for services that were never rendered. The charges ranged from conspiracy to commit corruption and abuse of office, to fraudulent acquisition of public property and tax evasion.
However, Magistrate Wakumile held that none of the evidence linked Kidero directly with the alleged fraudulent transactions, citing a failure by the prosecution to establish that Kidero approved the said payments.
While Kidero walked free, the court directed the former Nairobi County Head of Accounting, Stephen Ogago Osiro, to enter his defence on counts 18 to 35, which relate to the same transactions.
Other high-ranking county officials charged in the case include the former County Secretary, Chief Finance Officer, Finance and Planning Executive, and two acting treasury officials, alongside two businessmen associated with the supplier companies.
Source: NairobiWire.com | Read the Full Story…
