Noordin Haji, the Director of Public Prosecutions, has revealed that no evidence has been presented against Deputy President William Ruto in relation to the Arror and Kimwarer dams cases.
Haji who spoke during a morning show with NTV on Wednesday said that the Kimwarer case file from investigative agencies also doesn’t include DP Ruto’s name.
The DPP also stated that his office would not be used to settle political scores in the scandals involving the Kimwarer and Arror dams.
“As far as I am concerned and from where I am sitting, there is no evidence against him, and the file in court does not have his name, and that does not mean I am siding with anybody, I am just being factual,” stated DPP Haji.
President Uhuru Kenyatta cancelled the multi-billion shilling Arror and Kimwarer dam projects in Elgeyo-Marakwet in September 2019 after investigations revealed that they were overpriced and that the project was neither technically nor financially viable.
Former Treasury CS Henry Roich, his PS Kamau Thugge, and four others are charged with several counts of corruption, including conspiracy to defraud and abuse of office, in the multi-billion shilling dam fraud case, which resulted in a loss of Ksh.63 billion in 2019.
The DPP initially charged 24 people in connection with the scandal, but has now dropped charges against 15, including former Treasury PS Kamau Thugge and former East Africa Community PS Susan Jemutai Koech, after they agreed to testify for the prosecution.
Raila Odinga, the Azimio la Umoja Presidential candidate, accused Ruto and his allies of halting construction of the multibillion shilling Arror and Kimwarer dams in November 2021.
Odinga stated during a tour in West Pokot County that if not for the scandal surrounding the projects, the two dams would have been completed by now and serving thousands of locals in the counties of West Pokot and Elgeyo Marakwet.
“Serikali ilisema Sh21 billion imeibwa, alafu makamu wa rais anakuja anasema ilikuwa Sh7 billion pekee (The government said Sh21 billion was stolen but the DP has said only Sh7 billion was stolen),” said Odinga.
In February 2019, the Deputy President denied that Sh21 billion had been lost in the Arror and Kimwarer multi-purpose dam projects in Elgeyo-Marakwet, claiming that only Sh7 billion was at stake.
“You have heard that the government has lost Sh21 billion in Kimwarer and Arror dams which is a flat lie. The money in question is about Sh7 billion and for every coin that has been paid, we have a bank guarantee,” Ruto said.
