Court halts case against former Transport CS Michael Kamau

A criminal case against former Transport cabinet secretary, Michael Kamau, has been temporarily stopped. This is after he moved to the court of appeal to challenge the corruption charges brought against him.

The trial court was told that Court of Appeal Judges Milton Kakhandia, William Ouko and Kathurima Mminoti ruled that the proceeding pending at the lower court be stayed until the 23rd of June this year when a ruling will be delivered.

Trial Magistrate Lawrence Mogambi will now await the decision of the court of appeal.

The matter will be mentioned on the 30th of June.

In his appeal, Kamau argued that EACC lacked the necessary quorum to recommend charges against him.

In June 2015, Kamau was charged with abuse of office and failure to follow procurement rules.

He moved to the appeals court after a similar application was dismissed by the High Court.

The former CS pleaded not guilty and was released on a Ksh1 million cash bail.

It is alleged that, on March 15, 2008, he ignored Chapter 5 of the Government Financial Regulations and Procedures by ignoring the design of the Kamukuywa-Kapsokwony-Sirisia road, leading to the loss of Ksh33,303,600.

He was also accused of abusing his office and re-designing the road, which had earlier been done by EngiConsult Consulting Engineers Limited.

His co-accused, Nicholas Mburu Ng’anga, also denied the same charges and was released on similar terms, while the third accused, Kaka Matemu Kithyo, was released on a Ksh600,000 bail by Senior Principal Magistrate Lawrence Mogambi.