Meshack Onyango Dehay, the man who made stunning allegations of impropriety in the controversial Sh3.2 billion Ruaraka land transactions, has now been adopted as a state witness.
The police have also withdrawn criminal charges filed against him earlier for demanding money from suspected accomplices in the Ruaraka land deal.
Dehay had filed a personal statement to Parliament but disappeared from the limelight soon afterward as investigations into the land intensified.
On
July 9, the DPP announced on his Twitter handle that his office was reviewing the Ruaraka files after the EACC completed investigations and handed over the file to his office.
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Earlier, on May 16, Haji had written to Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti, directing him to withdraw criminal charges against Dehay that were pending at the Kiambu law courts. That decision followed a request by the EACC, indicating he was being considered as a state witness.
“The man is providing evidence to the EACC and is being considered a witness under witness protection," Haji said in his letter, reference number ODPP/cam/2/1112.
Dehay was facing charges of demanding Sh82 million and menacing the complainant whom the police did not identify but who is presumed to be one of the principal actors in the saga.
In April, the DCI placed a newspaper advert asking members of the public with information about Dehay to report to the DCI headquarters or the nearest police station.
A reward of an unspecified amount was offered to members of the public who gave information leading to
his arrest. A warrant of arrest
was subsequently issued for Dehay in Criminal Case No. 561 of 2018.
However, on
May 25,
a Serious Crimes officer withdrew the case at the Kiambu chief magistrate’s court.
John Nyanzwii, the head of investigations at the Witness Protection Agency and who would ordinarily be privy to witnesses under protection, declined to comment on whether Dehay was one of them.
“I cannot comment on the matter,” he told the Star.
The EACC has since completed investigations into the Ruaraka land case and forwarded the file to the DPP.
Responding to a blogger who questioned why it had taken the office of the prosecutor close to two weeks to make a decision on the file, the DPP said his office had set a 24-hour time line to deal with simple cases, while it could take close to six months to deal with complex cases.
“The Ruaraka lands case is one of the complex cases but rest assured the DPP is on the case,” the ODPP tweeted on
July 9.
Going by his explanation, this means that Kenyans could wait until December to know if anyone will be prosecuted over the Ruaraka case that has also been investigated by a committee of Parliament.
The National Assembly Committee on Lands has since recommended that the DCI conducts further investigations into the National Land Commission staff.
The committee’s report as adopted by Parliament also directed Kinoti to investigate NLC chairman Mohammad Swazuri and other officers for personal responsibility in the payment for what it said is already public land.
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The committee observed that the NLC failed to conduct public participation that should have included Ruaraka High School and the Drive Inn Primary School that occupy the 13.7 acres.
"The NLC failed to secure the interests of the government on the land in terms of ensuring that the titles in respect of the land being acquired were delivered to the registrar and registered," the report reads in part.
"Following conclusion of investigations by the Directorate of Criminal of Investigations, the Director of Public Prosecutions should prosecute any public officer or person who may be implicated or suspected as having engaged in any corrupt and illegal activities in the compulsory acquisition of the land in question," it reads.
In his evidence before the committee, Swazuri defended the transaction, saying the land was private and the commission followed the advice of the Attorney General in its compulsory acquisition.
EACC has lined up 25 suspects for charges relating to the purchase. They range from conspiracy and wilful failure to breach of trust, money laundering, fraud and abuse of office.
Police have been investigating the compulsory acquisition amid allegations that the payments were fraudulent or propelled by corruption because the land in question is alleged to be public.
Former Attorney General Githu Muigai has already written a statement relating to a legal consent he gave for the purchase to proceed, as has Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i, who was the Education minister at the time.
The transaction started on August 17, 2016, when a complainant wrote to the National Land Commission claiming the two schools were
on its land.
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