Graft case against Turkana County officials collapses

Nine officials of the Turkana County Government will not be prosecuted by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) in connection with alleged irregular award of road rehabilitation and construction contracts.

This is after High Court Judge, Stephen Riechi, barred the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keriako Tobiko, and the EACC from proceeding with investigations against Roads Executive, Tioko Logiron, and eight members of the County Tender Committee.

The Judge said that it was an abuse of the legal process and discretion for the EACC to have forwarded their recommendations to the DPP to press criminal charges upon failure to ascertain the allegations.

Justice Riechi upheld submissions by lawyer Philip Nyachoti, for the aggrieved officials, that the recommendations by the DPP, dated January 15, last year, that the officials should be charged with abuse of office, failure to comply with procurement regulations and unlawful acquisition of public property, were baseless and malicious.

Nyachoti had argued that EACC had conducted independent investigations and publicly acknowledged that only in Turkana and Tana River counties where bribes were not demanded or solicited for before services were rendered.

He had protested that that action taken against the county officials amounted to intimidation and harassment.

In July last year, the Eldoret Senior Principal Magistrate, C. Obulutsa, suspended the intended criminal charges against the officials.

He had directed that cash bails deposited by two officials be refunded to them since seven other officials had not been formally served with summons to enter an appearance before the court.