EACC, ODPP in court clash over Ksh.42.7 billion graft case

The Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) are locked in a legal battle in the corridors of justice that puts the very notion of the war against graft in question.

EACC has challenged the ODPP's decision to withdraw a graft case against three former Geothermal Development Company officers, with the anti-graft agency insisting that the decision by the prosecution was not made with the interest of the public in mind or in the view of administering justice.

The three senior employees of the geothermal company are on trial for exaggerating the cost of Rig Move services by over 100%.

In an affidavit sworn by an EACC officer, the commission says it’s investigations had proved that the accused persons fraudulently procured the services at a cost of Ksh.42,747,000.

The same services had cost just Ksh.19,550,000 the year before, leading the commission to contend that the cost was in excess of the prevailing market rates.

The ODPP, in its application to have the case withdrawn, states that the first accused, Nicholas Karume Weke, appealed for a review of the evidence in the case and that upon “review of the evidence and issues raised, it came to the ODPP’s attention that there was insufficient evidence to confirm that the Rig Move price was exaggerated.”

The case against the accused has been processed to the High Court with both the EACC and the ODPP working together against the accused.

The case was referred back to the trial court by the Supreme Court on January 27, with instructions that the matter be heard on priority basis.

EACC, while opposing the application to have the case dropped, noted that the ODPP's move “is not made in the public interest, the interests of the administration of justice nor is it intended to prevent or avoid the abuse of the legal process.”

The ODPP filed to have the case dismissed on January 13 in an application that was meant to have been heard on Thursday, but has been adjourned to next month to give the defence and the ODPP time to reply to EACC’s affidavit.

The EACC and the ODPP are clashing for the second time in as many days.

Last Wednesday, the two entities were also in court over another application by the ODPP to drop charges against former Kenya Pipeline MD Charles Tanui and two others in a Ksh.30million graft case.