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Ngilu son-in-law, Mbarire’s husband acquitted

Trial Magistrate Doreen Mulekyo acquitted the two together with seven others after finding that they had no case to answer/FILE

Trial Magistrate Doreen Mulekyo acquitted the two together with seven others after finding that they had no case to answer/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 5 – Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu’s son-in-law Billy Indeche and Runyenjes MP Cecily Mbarire’s husband Denis Apaa, have been cleared by the anti-corruption court of conspiring to defraud the Water Ministry of over Sh26 million.

Trial Magistrate Doreen Mulekyo acquitted the two together with seven others after finding that they had no case to answer.

She said the five boreholes their company, Broad Visions Utilities Limited, was contracted to drill in Machakos are functional and they therefore did not attempt to defraud the ministry when they demanded payment.

“After considering the evidence on record as a whole, the court finds that the same is not sufficient to sustain a conviction. I find all the accused persons without a case to answer on all the charges and acquit them accordingly, ” she declared.

She also found that the Sh6 million the accused demanded as payment for the power connection of three boreholes was also within their contractual agreement with the ministry.

“There was no evidence that the accused demanded the amount from the ministry and presented documents seeking repayment of that amount outside the contractual sum,” she said.

In totality she said the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case and the accused should not have been charged in the first place.

“The court does not understand why the charges were brought since all the prosecution witnesses confirmed the boreholes were working. The investigations were not warranted because the work was indeed done,” she adjudged.

The nine were accused of conspiring to defraud the ministry between the dates of January 22, 2009 and September 7, 2010; at which time Ngilu was the Minister for Water and Irrigation under former President Mwai Kibaki’s government.

Ngilu herself was investigated by Parliament and the then Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission for graft at the Ministry. READ: Ngilu now claims she’s being harassed

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Mbarire herself sued the then KACC Director Prof PLO Lumumba for defamation after he accused them of attempting to bribe him in a bid to evade the graft charges. READ: Mbarire slaps PLO with defamation suit.

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