Blow to DPP Haji in Tokyo embassy case
Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Anti-corruption court judge Hedwig Ong'udi dismissed the appeal filed by Mr Haji.
In the appeal, the DPP had termed the trial verdict as a blow to its office and that of the EACC.
The Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji has lost his appeal to have former Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Thuita Mwangi prosecuted afresh over abuse of office in relation to the Tokyo embassy scandal.
Mr Mwangi and two others were acquitted by Chief Magistrate Kennedy Bidali who ruled in 2016 that the prosecution had failed to establish a case against them.
ANTI-GRAFT
On Wednesday, anti-corruption court judge Hedwig Ong'udi dismissed the appeal filed by Mr Haji.
Mr Thuita was charged in 2013 alongside head of affairs at the Kenyan Embassy in Tokyo Allan Mburu and Ambassador Anthony Muchiri.
They were facing charges of abuse of and willful failure to comply with procurement laws but they were all acquitted on all charges.
According to Lady Justice Ong’udi, the magistrate court was right to acquit the three for lack of evidence.
At the trial court, they had been accused of authorizing payment in the Sh1.3 billion scandal yet the building was bought at an inflated cost which saw Kenya lose about Sh185.5 million in the purchase.
The trial court magistrate had blamed the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission for failing on its part to conduct proper investigations into the whole saga.
In the appeal, the DPP had termed the trial verdict as a blow to its office and that of the EACC.
