- The company through lawyer Jack Bigambo, in a letter to the EACC Chief Executive Officer, dated May 18, 2023 says it is surprised on the matter.
- The letter was copied to the Commission of Administrative of Justice, the Directorate of public prosecution, the Registrar High Court of Kenya and the President of the Law Society of Kenya, the Company.
Image: FILE
Amailo Investment Company has expressed its displeasure on how the EACC investigators are handling Sh24.9 million civil case against it
The company through lawyer Jack Bigambo, in a letter to the EACC Chief Executive Officer, dated May 18, 2023 says it is surprised on the matter.
The letter was copied to the Commission of Administrative of Justice, the Directorate of public prosecution, the Registrar High Court of Kenya and the President of the Law Society of Kenya, the Company
"We write to express our reservations, consternations and revulsion in the manner in which investigations and the attendant outcome thereof has been carried out in this case.," The letter reads in part.
But even as the matter lies in court, Bigambo in his letter to EACC accused investigating officers of tampering with witnesses.
"It has come to our knowledge that the investigating officer, in this case, has gone on a tour of witness tampering and bribery and intimidation with the intention of negatively influencing the case of the company," the letter said.
"It is our duty to inform you that the said investigating officer has approached four witnesses to my knowledge, threatened them and prevailed on them to falsify their statements and render false accounts of the true facts that gave rise to this case which negates the tenets of impartiality and are a recipe for maladministration of justice," said lawyer Bigambo.
In response to the accusations, EACC confirmed receipt of the letter and termed the allegations raised as a plot to defeat justice.
EACC Head of Corporate Communications Eric Ngumbi told the Star that such accusations mirror many others where suspects plot to impede justice.
"The allegations contained in the purported complaint letter are not an uncommon reaction from persons suspected of looting public funds especially where the suspects become jittery and contemplate crooked means of defeating justice such as witness tampering and forgery of documents," he said.
In the case, Ngumbi said EACC obtained court orders freezing over Sh36 million in the bank accounts of the defendant company.
"This is an investigation targetting to recover over Sh185,638,899 believed to have been obtained illegally from the Turkana County Government between 2014 and 2021 through a conflict of interest involving several county officials and their family members using the defendant company as a conduit for the fraud," he said.
Ngumbi further added that the defendant had a right to raise the matter before the court handling the case.
"While EACC will provide the defendant with its deserved response, nothing stops the defendant company from raising any issues of concern with the court before which the matter is pending."
The EACC filed the suit against the company in June 2022 at the High Court in Nairobi, Anti-Corruption Division, seeking orders to freeze Amailo Investments company accounts on allegations that it had been paid Sh24,999,600 by Turkana County for the service not rendered.
The case is currently pending before Justice Nixon Sifuna, awaiting compliance with provisions of order 11 of the Civil Procedure Rules setting down matters for the hearing of the main suit.