Citing lack of evidence, Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji has on Wednesday dropped criminal charges against former managing Director of Kenya Power and Lighting Company Ben Chumo.
Haji made the announcement on Wednesday, saying that Ben Chumo and 10 others have been acquitted from all their charges due to the failure of police officers to conduct further investigations on areas that were considered “weak.”
According to Noordin Haji, it was difficult to secure any conviction without more evidence. The DPP said that he had written to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on several occasions requesting for more evidence on weak areas.
After the DCI failed to respond to all the letters, which were sent within a period of one year, the DPP had no choice but to drop the charges for lack of evidence.
Dr Ben Chumo was accused of failure to comply with procurement laws. He was charged in 2018 alongside Ken Tarus, Beatrice Meso, K.P. Mungai, Joshua Mutua, Abubakar Swaleh, Samuel Ndirangu, Stanley Mutwiri, Benson Muriithi, Peter Mwicigi and John Ombui.
The DPP also alleged that the investigating officer had failed to submit his witness evidence.
The presiding court judge Mr Felix Kombo sanctioned the withdrawal of the case under section 87(a) of the criminal procedure code. The case has now ended after the court heard testimony from 34 witnesses and only 4 were remaining.
Following these development, the court has ordered the release of passports and cash bails that had been deposited to secure the freedoms of those accused.