City wags baptised it ‘Kamata Kamata Fridays’. In a renewed war on corruption, police routinely arrested the big fish on Fridays and locked them up over the weekend to face graft charges the following week. One of them was then Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua.
On Friday, July 23 last year, Gachagua was picked up at 6 am from his home in Nyeri by DCI officers and driven away to Nairobi. He had apparently registered 49 companies he allegedly used to win tenders worth more than Sh12 billion.
The MP protested his innocence in a lengthy Facebook post: “I am being driven to Nairobi at reckless speed to spend the weekend in the cells. I am happy it is finally over. It has been two years of hell; being arrested and released, writing countless statements, being prosecuted in the media, intimidation and harassment to me and family,” he said.
“To our tormentors and persecutors, you only have one year remaining. We shall have a new democratic government that does not use the criminal justice system to manage politics.”
On Tuesday, the Star broke the story that the corruption case against Gachagua, now the Deputy President, was collapsing.
“Why Gachagua’s Sh7.3 billion graft case collapsed”, the lead story said. The report by political reporter Julius Otieno said the corruption case is “technically dead”.
“Both prosecutors and investigators now say the evidence used to nail Gachagua was forged, setting the stage for his acquittal in what would be a sweet victory for the former Mathira MP,” the paper reported.
A striking point in the story stood out in the kicker: “Former DCI boss George Kinoti declined to comment, asks for prayers”. That should have gone into the headline.
Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji on Sunday said Kinoti “bullied” him to implicate Gachagua and charge him.
The next day the Star caught up with the former chief sleuth at a city restaurant meeting some relatives. He declined to answer any questions, only telling the reporter, “We need more prayers”.
Perhaps the headline should have read, “Kinoti asks for prayers as Gachagua Sh7.3bn graft case collapses”.
That such a highly publicised corruption case was now “technically dead” is a huge story that raises big questions about former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s much-trumpeted war on corruption. His then estranged deputy William Ruto and his allies like Gachagua insisted the war was a witch-hunt against Uhuru’s political opponents.
The collapsing cases also turn the spotlight on the independence and competence of the country’s justice institutions.
