High Court quashes one fraud count in Ksh.33M case against ex-CS Kamau

The High Court on Tuesday quashed one fraud count against former Transport Cabinet Secretary Michael Kamau in a case involving alleged loss of Ksh.33.3 million in the redesigning of the Kamukuywa-Kaaptama-Kapsokwony-Sirisia road in Bungoma.

However, the court declined to stop Mr. Kamau’s prosecution, noting that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is at liberty to institute a properly framed charge sheet in accordance with the relevant and applicable law.

“Having found that the charge sheet as drafted without specific reference to the specific regulation amounts to an illegality the same must be quashed. Court should have rejected the charge sheet upon registration,” ruled Justice John Onyiego.

The quashed charge is failure to comply with applicable procedures and guidelines relating to the management of public funds and unspecified failure to comply with Chapter 5 of the Government Financial Regulations and Procedures.

The judge ruled that the embattled former CS needs to know what he did or what he did not comply with under the said regulations.

“Count one, he is alleged to have acted contrary to Chapter Five of the government financial regulation and procedure, this chapter has several regulation and the petitioner needs to understand specifically which regulation he offended,” added the court.

Mr. Kamau had argued that the trial court failed in its duty to observe and consider that the charge sheet and the charges framed against him were not lawful and did not pass the constitutional threshold.

He further claimed that the charges against him show a lack of proper foundation for his prosecution saying they are defective and lack specificity.