Former President Uhuru Kenyatta‘s days as Cabinet Minister for Treasury came back to haunt him in the multi-billion Arror and Kimawarer Dam projects case.
Appearing before the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court on Tuesday, September 20, a prosecution witness claimed that Uhuru approved the construction of both dams while also serving as the deputy prime minister in the late Mwai Kibaki's government.
The witness, who served at the Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA) Adhoc Technical & Evaluation Tendering Committee, claimed that Uhuru signed the conceptualization and implementation papers of the project and gave the green light for advertisement for bidding.
Other signatories of the documents presented before the court included those signed by former Cabinet Minister for Regional Development Fred Gumo and his Security counterpart, the late John Michuki.
The court also allowed the witness to testify against former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich and KVDA Managing Director David Kimosop.
According to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP), the eyewitness told the court that Rotich and Kimosop coordinated to hand the tender to companies that had not expressed interest in the project.
“She told Chief Magistrate Lawrence Mugambi how the accused persons conspired to float tenders for the 2 projects and awarded CMC di Ravenna- Itinera Joint Ventures even though the company did not bid for the projects,” read the statement by the ODPP.
During the cross-examination, Rotich’s lawyer, Katwa Kigen questioned the terms under which the witness moved from a suspect in the case to coordinate with the prosecution team.
She, however, clarified that she was not offered any incentive and only wanted to explain her role in the tendering process.
Despite being the committee secretary, the witness claimed that she was reduced to performing a spectator role in the Adhoc committee.
“She was tasked with evaluating the projects’ tender documents and was never consulted about the tendering process,” the prosecution noted.
Rotich, Kimosop, and seven others were charged with conspiracy to defraud the government of Ksh56.3 billion (USD 501.8 million) for the development of two multi-purpose dam projects.
Uhuru Kenyatta and his lawyers have not yet responded to the allegations filed in court.
