Fraud case against water firm officials to proceed
By Anthony.Mwangi, October 31, 2023
The trial of officials of the Rift Valley Water Services Board accused by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) over a Sh600 million tender fraud in the construction of the Malaba Water and Sanitation Project will now resume after the High Court dismissed a bid by the accused persons to stop their prosecution.
Fraudulently awarded
The officials were members of a Tender Evaluation Committee of the Rift Valley Water Services Board that allegedly irregularly and fraudulently awarded a Sh600 million tender to an unqualified private company.
Mactebac Contractors Ltd which won the tender did not meet the set qualifications and lacked the capacity to undertake such magnitude of work.
The officials were charged alongside their accomplices including the contractor and officers from Lake Victoria North Water Service Board.
They include Rachael Nafula Makokha, Programme Coordinator, Kenya Towns Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation at Rift Valley Water Services Board.
The accused persons, unsuccessfully, sought to have the High Court quash the bid by EACC and ODPP to charge them with criminal offences, arguing that it would violate their rights but lost the case.
Dismissing the case, Bungoma High Court Judge Lady Justice Rose Ougo (pictured) said that the case lacked merit and ordered that the trial proceed before the Chief Magistrate’s Court. The case will now be heard in February 2024.