Another blow in the war against corruption in our country. Once again, the people of Kenya get to see how rogue the current regime is. Without batting an eyelid, the state will now hand back the Sh 200M belonging to Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua that it had forfeited last year, in the wake of ‘new evidence’.
Our country’s judicial system is suspected to be the weakest link in war against the theft of public money, and this case confirms it. The Court Appeal on Wednesday vacated High Court orders that had declared the funds proceeds of crime, after the new evidence proved otherwise.
DP Gachagua through his counsel Kioko Kilukumi and the Asset Recovery Agency reached an agreement to settle the matter after the new evidence proving that the funds were not proceeds of crime.
According to the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA), the Deputy President has since explained the source and legitimacy of the said money to satisfaction.
ARA noted that at the time the High Court was issuing its judgment, the new evidence was not placed before the judge since the agency was not in possession of the said evidence.
The funds are held in three accounts at Rafiki Microfinance Bank in the name of Rigathi Gachagua, with one holding Ksh.165 million, a second account holding Ksh.35 million, and the other holding Ksh.773,228.
A fourth account, holding Sh1,138,142, is registered in the name of Jenne Enterprises, these funds will also be released.
While forfeiting DP’s funds last year, Justice Esther Maina ruled that Gachagua who was an MP at the time admitted that he received the funds from government agencies but there was no evidence that he supplied any services or goods to the government.
She also said that the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) had proved that the MP and his companies benefited from funds yet did not deliver any goods or provided any services to the ministries or agencies, which gave tenders to him.
The funds were received from the Ministry of Lands (Kenya Informal Settlements Programme), State Department for Special Planning, Ministry of Health, Bungoma county government, Mathira constituency development funds, Nyeri county government, and the National Irrigation Board.
