Court revives ex-Sports CS Echesa's prosecution over fake Sh39.5bn KDF equipment deal

The prosecution of former Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa over a fake Sh39.5 billion military equipment deal will resume on Monday.

This after the high court in Nairobi set aside a magistrate's ruling that acquitted him and four others.

Echesa is facing a total of 11 charges including a charge of an attempt to commit a felony contrary to section 389 of the Penal Code alongside his accomplices Daniel Otieno Omondi, Clifford Okoth Onyango, Kennedy Oyoo Mboya and Chrispin Oduor Odipo.

The suspects had been acquitted by a magistrate at the Milimani Law Courts but the office of Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) filed an appeal at high court seeking to overturn the acquittal of the suspects.

The ODPP had argued that it had provided sufficient evidence to secure the conviction of the five suspects, urged the high court to set aside the acquittal and place the suspects on their defence and Justice Kanyi Kimondo agreed.

"Under power granted by section 354 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code, I order that the matter be remitted back to the lower court to place the (the suspects) on their defence on those counts," Justice Kimondo ordered.

"The respondents shall appear in person before the Chief Magistrate, Milimani Law Courts Nairobi for mention on March 4, 2024, without fail for directions on their trial."

They are jointly accused of allegedly trying to defraud businessman Kozlowski Stanley Bruno of USD 395,442 (Sh39,544,200,000) by falsely pretending that they would be awarded a tender by the State Department of Defence to supply military equipment, a fact they knew to be false or untrue.

Echesa is separately charged with personating a person employed in the public service contrary to section 105(B) of the Penal Code where he is accused of presenting himself to Bruno as a person employed in public service as the personal assistant to President William Ruto on February 13, 2020.

He is said to have introduced himself as the DP's PA during a meeting at the Harambee House Annex in Nairobi and the magistrate acquitted him. Justice Kimondo upheld the acquittal.

Similarly, Onyango, Mboya and Odipo were separately charged with obtaining USD115,080 (Sh11.5 million) from Bruno by falsely pretending that they were in a position to award him a contract for supply and delivery of military equipment to the Ministry of Defence, a fact they knew to be false or untrue.

They are accused of committing the offence at Plaza 2000 along Mombasa Road in Nairobi, on October 21, 2019, with intent to defraud and deceive.

Omondi is accused of introducing himself to Bruno as General Juma from Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and purported to be in a position to Bruno and Mamdough Mostaf Amer Lofty a tender for agreement for supply delivery, installation, commissioning and maintenance of integrated and security surveillance system reference number highly classified 2019/2026.

Omondi was dismissed from KDF in 2016 where he was holding the rank of a sergeant.

Other charges against the suspects include making documents without authority, uttering fake documents and having implements of fraud regarding procurement fraud where the suspects were found with fake tender documents and stamps from The Ministry of Defence.

The ODPP had called more than 17 witnesses including Ministry of Defence and Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers.

The Assistant Chief of Defence Forces in charge of Personnel and Logistics in KDF Major General Aphaxard Kiungu had told the court during the trial of the suspects that the end user certificates (part of fake tender documents) recovered from the suspects were not genuine.

He added that such documents are not ordinarily signed by the Chief of Defence Forces or service Commanders as indicated to Bruno by the suspects during the execution of the fraud.