One hundred graft cases have been filed before the anti-corruption court in the last two years, records show.
Of the 100, which were registered before magistrates in Nairobi, at least 86 have been finalised and fines of Sh5.8 billion imposed on suspects found guilty in the last five months alone.
Data obtained by the Star shows that in 39 of the 86 cases suspects were acquitted, while some of the lawsuits were withdrawn.
The magistrates who handled the corruption cases are Felix Kombo, Douglas Ogoti, Lawrence Mugambi, L Wachira, M Mutuku, R Makungu and Kennedy Bidali.
In the last five months alone the magistrates’ court imposed Sh5,850,000 fines on suspects found guilty. The magistrates gave the accused an option of fine and in default imposed jail terms.
The highest jail term was three years while the shortest was six months. However, the court faces challenges that slow down the pace at which cases are determined.
Ogoti said parties file numerous applications, sometimes to stop hearings, which go from the High Court to the Court of Appeal. This, in turn, delays the hearing of a case before the magistrates’ court.
Secondly, he said, the court currently has only three permanent magistrates and occasionally borrows magistrates from other divisions to help with the workload.
He is optimistic that the issue of under-staffing is being addressed by Chief Justice David Maraga, who is expected to add three more magistrates to the anti-corruption court in January.
The third issue is the nature of the cases where, for example, the prosecution brings 30 suspects in one case and 40 witnesses.
This would mean that each witness will be cross-examined by lawyers for each accused person, which takes a long time and delays the case.
The anti-corruption court was launched in July by Maraga as the Judiciary stepped up efforts to fight graft. He directed all corruption cases be heard in Nairobi.
This meant all reviews, appeals or any other disputes arising from corruption charges will also be heard and determined by the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Division in Nairobi. The move was aimed at easing management of cases and speeding up their hearings and determination.
The directive was a break from the past where such cases delayed in courts.
However, cases that were pending in other stations or divisions of the High Court at the time Maraga issued the directive will be concluded in those stations.
The big cases pending before the court include one against former Kenya Power officials and another against Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu.
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Suspended Kenya Power MD Ken Tarus has been charged alongside seven engineers with conspiring to commit an economic crime.
They are accused of carelessly failing to comply with procedures and guidelines relating to procurement which led to fraudulent payments of Sh159,195,365 to companies that were unprocedurally prequalified for labour and transport services.
Former Nairobi governor Evans Kidero and former chief officers in his administration are also facing corruption-related charges.
They denied the charges and are out on bond.
They are accused of conspiring to commit fraud, which led to the loss of Sh213,327,300 at the county government between January 16, 2014 and January 25, 2016.
Another governor who is battling corruption related charges is Busia governor Sospeter Ojaamong.
Ojaamong has been indicted alongside Finance executive Bernard Yaite, chief finance officer Leonard Obimbira, head of treasury accounting Samuel Ombui, Allan Omachari and Edna Odhiambo.
Also pending is the case against suspended Youth Affairs PS Lilian Omollo, former NYS boss Richard Ndubai and 22 other suspects.
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