Former Bomas of Kenya Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peter Gitaa Koria has gotten a reprieve after an anti-corruption court cleared him of all corruption charges yesterday.
Gitaa expressed satisfaction with the court ruling and blamed the prosecution for dragging him to court and wasting his time and resources without evidence.
”I would like to thank the Judiciary for vindicating me of any wrongdoing,Judges are doing a good job for not being used politically,”he added.
Through his lawyer Evans Ondieki,Gitaa fought the court battle after he was accused of procurement irregularities amounting to Sh 8.6 Million.
A Nairobi Court has set free ruling that the prosecution failed to prove the case against him.
The court determined that there was no evident irregularitied in the procurement process as it was lawful and conducted as per procurement procedures.
In that cade,the prosecution had alleged that he engaged in irregularities in awarding public tenders, specifically for kitchen items, utensils, plates, cups, cutlery, and other related items. The tenders in question—Quotation No. 15 (Kitchen Items), Quotation No. 16 (Utensils), Quotation No. 17 (Kitchen Items), Quotation No. 18 (Plates & Cups), and Quotation No. 19 (Cutlery & Other Items)—were reportedly not included in the Bomas of Kenya’s Budget and Procurement Plan for the 2020/2021 financial year.
Despite these allegations, the court ruled that the prosecution failed to provide sufficient evidence to support the claims.
His suspension from office followed his arraignment over the alleged procurement violations, but with the court’s decision, it remains to be seen whether he will be reinstated.
Stems from budget…it’s prudent to confirm if there was a budget. It was proved that there was by witnesses. It’s clear there was budget and was done procedurally.
Investigayion officer contended that the items procured were not in the budget…which was dismissed as the accused did his part.
“I find that the evidence does not place the accused in the offence in count 1. Considering the evidence before me, I find that the prosecution did not prove prima facie case against the accused in all the seven counts,”ruled Court.
