Witness in Kimwarer dams case refuses to testify

The Sh69 billion Kimwarer and Arror dams case took a new twist after a witness told court he did not know he was to testify.

Gideon Rotich, who was the second witness to take the stand, told court he was not ready to testify and should be given more time.

The first witness, Charity Muyu, finished her testimony and cross-examination on Wednesday after close to 10 months on the dock.

Rotich, a former officer at Nema, had been summoned by the court to testify against former National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich and others who were charged with fraud.

As the court prepared to take his testimony, the prosecution informed court that Rotich had told them he was not ready to proceed because he needed to get some documents from Nema.

Chief magistrate Lawrence Mugambi heard that even though the prosecution was ready to proceed, their witness was reluctant to give his testimony as scheduled.

Upon examination by Mugambi on why he was not ready to proceed, Rotich said he did not know he was coming to testify.

He claimed he received a summons from DCI officers on Wednesday evening telling him to appear in court on Thursday morning but he did not know the reason for the summons.

“Let it be clear to this court that I never knew that I will be a witness in this matter,” he said.

Rotich, who recorded his statement in January this year, told court that he no longer worked for Nema and so he would need time to go and authenticate the documents he will use in his testimony.

The prosecution said even though they had all the documents with them in court, Rotich said he needs to authenticate the said documents before he can proceed to testify.

When asked by the magistrate why he seemed uneasy while in the dock, Rotich said it's because it was his first time appearing before any court so naturally, he was a bit tensed.

State counsel Taib Ali Taib said the witness had pulled a surprise on them.

Taib further said they will investigate the matter to know if there was any interference on Rotich or any other witness and necessary measures would be undertaken.

In his short ruling, Mugambi adjourned the matter on grounds that Rotich was not in the best state to testify.

“Clearly looking at the witness, he looks tensed and I would not consider him in a calm state of mind to testify today (Thursday). Witnesses serve an integral role in rendering justice and it is important that they feel confident and assured,” Mugambi ruled.

The court also said it was clear that the pretrial briefing, if any, was rushed and that might have affected the witness’s confidence in giving his testimony.

“For that reason, despite my earlier decision, the court finds itself in a difficult position that it has to review the decision in the interest of justice,” the court ruled.

He urged the prosecution to move with speed and put its house in order in regard to the progress of the case so that excuses can be avoided.

Earlier in the day, the prosecution had also raised the issue of witness interference, claiming they had reason to believe that their witnesses had been interfered with.

Senior assistant DPP Alexander Muteti told court that they were aware that the prosecution witnesses were being interfered with.

“We have reliably learnt of an effort to interfere with witnesses or dissuade them not to appear in this matter,” Muteti said.

This is after the defence lawyers made an application to adjourn the matter, saying the witness in the dock was not on their initial list supplied to parties.

Lawyer Katwa Kigen in response dismissed the claims of witness interference, saying they were made sensationally because the media was there.

Things got a bit heated when Katwa accused the prosecution of using political undertones in their claims.

He told court that according to their defence, no money was lost in dams project as alleged by the state and they have produced evidence to that effect.

The case was adjourned to November 18.

 

(edited by Amol Awuor)