Treasury CS Henry Rotich Denies 15 Corruption Charges

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich was on Tuesday arraigned in court to face corruption charges in relation to the Arror and Kimwarer Dams scandal where billions of shillings of taxpayers' cash were lost.

Rotich was paraded before Milimani Chief Magistrate Douglas Ogoti alongside Treasury Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge, East Africa Community PS Susan Jemtai Koech, and 25 other suspects.

The accused persons were charged with 15 corruption-related charges including conspiracy to defraud the public.

The court was told that the accused persons conspired to defraud the government of Kenya between December 17th, 2014 and September 27th, 2018.

They were also charged with willful failure to comply with applicable procedures and guidelines relating to procurement, abuse of office, financial misconduct, fraudulent acquisition of public property, and willful neglect to perform official duty.

Rotich and his co-accused were arrested on Monday after the conclusion of an investigation into the misuse of funds for the Arror and Kimwarer dams projects by Italian construction company CMC Di Ravenna.

On Monday, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji said the two multi-purpose dams were budgeted to cost Sh 46 billion, but the Treasury inflated the cost to Sh63 billion.

The accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charges leveled against them. The court will deliver a ruling on their application for bail later on Tuesday.