Former Transport CS Michael Kamau to Face Corruption Charges after Appeals Court Declines to Drop Case

Former Transport Cabinet Secretary Michael Kamau is set to face corruption charges after the Court of Appeal dismissed a petition seeking to block further prosecution.

On Friday, a three-judge bench made of Justices Mohammed Warsame, William Ouko and Kithurima Minoti ruled that Kamau was never acquitted as he had alleged, paving way for the graft case against him to proceed.

 Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC) opposed Kamau’s application seeking to quash his charges, arguing that such a move would affect more than 100 corruption cases pending in court.

EACC Chief Executive Officer Halakhe Waqo submitted that the former CS failed to demonstrate that the Court had the jurisdiction to block investigations or intended prosecutions.

“The High Court decision made on April 11th, 2018, directed the commission to investigate, arrest and charge the applicant,” the affidavit read.

Kamau had been charged in relation to the construction of Kamukunywa Kaaptama -Kapsokwony Sirisia road in Bungoma, which led to the loss of Sh33 million public funds.

In his appeal filed by lawyer Nelson Havi, Kamau told the Court that the charges being preferred against him were previously terminated by the Court of Appeal.

In April this year, Judge Hedwig Ongudi discharged the former CS, but declined to acquit him.

Ongundi said his appeal, which saw the charges against Kamau dropped on July 14th, 2017 was allowed because EACC was not properly constituted at the time it completed the investigations.