Six former parastatal bosses freed in graft case
National Housing Corporation Managing Director James Ruitha (left) confers with the corporation's chairman Bosire Ogero during a housing partnership signing ceremony at NHC headquarters in Nairobi on September 7, 2010. Mr Ruitha has been absolved of graft charges. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH | NATION MEDIA GROUP
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- Principal Magistrate Felix Kombo, however, held that the facts of the case reveal a situation where NHC Board was aware through the provision in the Estate Development Policy.
- Lawyer Fred Ngatia, who represented Mr Ruitha, said justice had finally been served.
A former National Housing Corporation (NHC) boss and five other senior officials were on Friday cleared of graft charges.
Former managing director James Wagema Ruitha and five others were exonerated from claims that they irregularly allocated themselves houses built with taxpayers’ money.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission had alleged that Mr Ruitha and his co-accused allocated and sold houses built by the State corporation to their wives and friends.
In his ruling Friday, Principal Magistrate Felix Kombo, however, held that the facts of the case reveal a situation where NHC Board was aware through the provision in the Estate Development Policy, which it developed, that the accused were entitled to allocation of houses under their preserved quota of 20 per cent of the houses developed in every scheme.
“As the evidence shows, nothing also existed by way of policy to prevent the accused or their relatives from applying as members of the public in the other 80 per cent,” Mr Kombo said.
The other co-accused were Elizabeth Wambui Mbugua (Corporation Secretary), Manaseh Munialo Wandabwa (Finance Manager), Benard Ogola Jackob (Technical Manager), William Kimutai Keitany (Senior Legal Manager), and John Washington Otieno Ogutu (Chief Estates Officer). All were present in court with their relatives.
Mr Kombo said that the evidence presented in court did not prove the charges of abuse of office, or conflict of interest, in allocating themselves the houses, as the accused had an entitlement to the houses under the NHC Estate Development Policy.
The accused said the ruling was a great sigh of relief having been absolved.
Lawyer Fred Ngatia, who represented Mr Ruitha, said justice had finally been served.
Further, they had brought to the knowledge of their principal, NHC Board, their intention to purchase the houses given they had engaged in an elaborate process of application for the said properties starting with the filing of the expression of interest forms.
“In view of the foregoing and my indicated findings, I acquit each of the accused persons in their respective counts under section 210 of the Criminal Procedure Code.”
