Solai dam case: NEMA boss says he’s being punished over recent demolitions

National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) Director General, Geoffrey Wahungu has moved to court seeking orders to stop any prosecution over the Solai Dam tragedy that left 48 people dead.

Wahungu says that he is being punished for being part of the team that had led demolitions of buildings that are on riparian land.

He further claims that he was shocked to learn that the DPP intends to charge and criminally prosecute him on allegations that NEMA as an institution failed to prevent the collapse of the Solai Dam.

“Orders prohibiting the DPP by himself or his agents from arresting, commencing charging in any criminal charges alleged to arise from the collapse of Solai dam,” reads the petition.

It is his argument that as the Director General of NEMA, he is not even remotely connected with the operations of Solai Dam or the structural competence of the dam which was built long before the NEMA was established.

According to the court documents, the NEMA boss claims that on August 8, he was hurriedly arrested and detained at the Industrial Area Police Station and told he would be prosecuted for allegedly being involved with the Solai dam collapse.

He claims that he spent the better part of that day at the station recording statements and was only released late in the evening on condition that he reports back to the station on Friday, August 10 and extended to August 15.

Wahungu wants the court to stop the DPP from charging him with any criminal case in relation to Solai arguing that it will be unlawful for him to be prosecuted.

“It’s against public policy and constitution that a body like DPP should be allowed to act in such an unfair and unreasonable manner without any regard to the constitution and the rule of law” argues Wahungu.