Court Approves Withdrawal of Gachagua's Sh7.3 Billion Graft Case

The Anti-Corruption Court has allowed the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to withdraw the Sh7.3 billion graft case against Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and his co-accused.

While granting the application on Thursday, presiding magistrate Victor Wakumile warned the accused persons that they might be arrested on the same charges in the future should investigators discover evidence.

The magistrate faulted the office of the DPP for pressing charges on Gachagua and nine others without conducting conclusive investigations.

“How come DPP seemed to have acted and preferred charges based on inconclusive investigations? One cannot be prompted to infer that he acted under pressure from his junior the DCIO,” read the ruling.

The magistrate further noted that there is a need for the court to make recommendations that might improve the criminal justice system to avert such incidences in the future.

On Wednesday, the prosecution applied to terminate the case against Gachagua on grounds that the evidence did not meet the threshold required to mount a successful trial.

This came after lead DCI investigator Kuriah Obadiah filed an affidavit claiming that former DCI director George Kinoti forced them to fabricate charges against Gachagua and his co-accused.

Kuria said they were given instructions and fixed timelines to speed up investigations against Gachagua, who was then the MP for Mathira Constituency, despite a lack of satisfactory evidence.

Before the conclusion of investigations, Kuriah alleged, Kinoti directed him and his team to make recommendations that would lead to the arrest and charging of Gachagua.

He argued that continuing with the case would be detrimental to the prosecution given that the investigating team overlooked some of the critical areas.

Gachagua had been charged with conspiracy to commit an offense of corruption, fraudulent acquisition of public property, money laundering, acquisition of proceeds of crime, and conflict of interest.

He was indicted alongside William Wahome Mwangi, Anne Nduta Ruo, Julianne Jahenda Makaa, Samuel Murimi, Grace Wambui Kariuki, Lawrence Kimaru, Irene Wambui Ndigiriri, David Reuben, and a company M/s Rapid Medical Supplies.

The charge sheet read that on diverse dates between 2013 and 2020, Gachagua fraudulently received Sh7,330,011,265 through three bank accounts at Rafiki Micro-Finance bank while knowing that the monies were proceeds of crime.