Governor Mutua cleared for irregular procurement of county vehicles.

The Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji has cleared Machakos Governor Dr. Alfred Mutua of any wrongdoing on the purchase of vehicles for the Machakos Government.

In a consent entered at the Court of Appeal by DPP, EACC and AG before Justice Roselyne Nambuye, Justice Milton Makhandia and Justice Prof. Otieno Odek, DPP Haji effectively stopped any moves to investigate and prosecute Governor Mutua over the issue of purchase of Subaru cars for his cabinet.

Mutua had argued that he had saved the government money by using only Ksh.35 million instead of the allocated Ksh.140 million and that he was being pursued for saving the public money.

The case had been sent to EACC by former Machakos Senator Johnson Muthama on behalf of WIPER party, in what Mutua viewed as political witch hunt.

The Governor had suffered a blow after the High Court dismissed a case that had sought to block his prosecution over the purchase of the vehicles.

Mutua had moved to the High Court saying that the decision to procure the motor vehicles was approved by the County Assembly on July 30, 2013 hence the decision to prosecute him was unreasonable and not proportional adding that it amounted to an abuse of the court process.

EACC, on its part, dismissed the arguments presented by the governor saying that the acquisition of the motor vehicles did not abide with any statutory procurement methods adding that Mutua, not only initiated the purchase of the vehicles, but the vehicles were sourced and the pricing settled by him before the matter was placed before the tender committee.

The Machakos magistrate’s court had earlier acquitted Mutua’s tender committee of the same matter on Case No. 11 of 2015, on a ruling delivered on 17th November, 2017.

DPP Haji has been cracking the whip on corruption but has also said that fairness and justice needs to be rendered to all.