Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on Wednesday discharged the case against former NYS Director General Nelson Gitau Githinji who was a prime suspect in the Sh791 Million scandal.
Mr Githinji was earlier cleared by the anti-corruption court from charges of abuse of office and fraudulent acquisition of public property.
Senior Principal Magistrate Lucas Onyina Onyango terminated the matter following a recent decision of the Court of Appeal which ruled that cases started against suspects when EACC had no commissioners were irregular.
“I have considered all the evidence... the application of acquittal is not improper. The prosecution case is hereby closed and the accused discharged, ” ruled Magistrate Onyango.
[caption caption="Former NYS Director Nelson Githinji"]
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Dismissal of the cases points to a possibility of absolution of other NYS cases in which taxpayers lost nearly Sh2 Billion through fraudulent transactions.
Mr. Githinji had been accused of fraudulently acquiring public property after spending Sh497,355 taxpayers cash on June 2014 to service and repair his private vehicle purporting to be the cost used to repair a government vehicle.
The trial of Mr Githinji, Chief Inspector at NYS Nicholas Makokha and Senior Superintendent mechanic at the motor vehicles workshop Geoffrey Kiriha was brought to an end by Mr Onyina.
Director of Public Prosecutions had filed the case against the suspects on the counts of abuse of office and conspiracy to defraud and fraudulent acquisition of public property, which he had to withdraw following the directive from the Court of Appeal.
[caption caption="Director of Public Prosecution Keriako Tobiko"]
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Defence lawyer Philip Mutake had applied to have the three acquitted in light of the judgment of the Court of Appeal that permanently quashed prosecutions undertaken after EACC commissioners quit office.
In his defence, the magistrate stated that he is bound by the Court of Appeal judgment that quashed corruption cases against former Cabinet Secretaries Michael Kamau (Transport) and Charity Ngilu (now Kitui Governor) when EACC had no commissioners.
