Former Garissa Governor Nathif Jama was on Tuesday, November 3, got a setback in a graft case he had won in 2017.
In a ruling that set aside his acquittal in the case, Justice Charles Kariuki issued an order for the withdrawal of the criminal charges against the former county boss and six others from graft charges involving the hiring of ambulances at Ksh62.4 million.
With the case withdrawn under Section 87 (a) of the Criminal Procedure Code and discharging of the accused persons, the prosecution can now file fresh charges after getting new evidence on the alleged offenses.
In 2017, the trial magistrate dismissed the charges against the accused following an application by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to withdraw the charges.
With the acquittal, the governor and his co-accused had been released and could not be tried again for the same offense.
In his Tuesday ruling, Justice Kariuki found it irrelevant that the accused would suffer prejudice if fresh charges were to be filed by the state.
“It is clear to me that the trial magistrate in disallowing the appellant applied to withdraw the case exercised his discretion injudiciously,” he stated.
The DPP moved to the High Court after the acquittal of the governor and his co-accused.
The governor's bank account had been frozen by a High Court following an appeal by the Ethics and Anti- Corruption Commission (EACC) over suspiciously large deposits.
The investigation authority stated that up to Ksh5.2 billion had been fraudulently transferred from the County Government of Garissa into his personal account.
In his defense, Jama strongly denied allegations that he stole from the county coffers, stating that it was a witch-hunt orchestrated by his political rivals.
In September 2020, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji ordered the arrest of the current Garissa County Governor Ali Korane over the misappropriation of a World Bank grant valued at Ksh233 million.
