Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji has spared former Kisumu County Assembly Speaker Onyango Oloo, Bobasi Member of Parliament Innocent Obiri and 23 others in a Ksh4.2 billion case.
The accused persons had been charged in court with regards to a scandal that rocked the Lake Basin Development Authority (LBDA) over the construction of a mall whose cost is said to have been inflated from ksh2.5 billion to Ksh4.2 billion.
DPP Haji directed that charges against the individuals be dropped and that they be turned into State witnesses.
State Counsel James Kihara told the court on February 1, 2021, that the DPP had ordered him to drop charges against some accused persons, Oloo, former LBDA director Peter Aguko and Obiri included.
"Haji has reviewed the evidence on record and has given a formal instruction to withdraw some accused person and make them state witnesses, but sought one month to communicate his decision to the EACC and the names of the accused persons they intend to withdraw charges against and they record a statement," Kihara told the court.
Justice Douglas Ogoti, following the application by Kihara, allowed DPP Haji more time to communicate his decision to the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission (EACC) on the individuals he is dropping charges against and that they record statements with the state agency.
Justice Ogoti gave the DPP one month to present a new charge sheet in the case.
"The DPP is allowed 30 days to come up with amended charges in the case after putting his house in order. I order fresh pleas to be on March 22 and pretrial conference in the matter to be heard on April 1," Justice Ogoti ordered.
Oloo had been accused of plotting with contractors of the mall to defraud members of the public of billions of shillings and also for bribery, when he was chairman of the board.
In November 2020, the DPP had indicated that he would withdraw charges against some of the accused, noting the lack of evidence tying them to the scandal.
Investigations by EACC into the scandal were launched following a complaint received on July 28, 2015.
