Political analyst Herman Manyora received a significant boost in his ongoing criminal trial after a key prosecution witness admitted in court that he had no evidence linking him to the award of a multimillion-shilling construction tender at Nairobi Hospital.
Testifying before Senior Principal Magistrate Peter Mutai, prosecution witness Gilbert Nyamweha conceded during cross-examination that he could not identify any action taken by Manyora that influenced the procurement process leading to the award of the contract.
"I have no evidence showing that Dr Manyora influenced the award of the tender," Nyamweha acknowledged when questioned by the defence.
The witness further told the court that the tender underwent the hospital's established procurement procedures, including preliminary, technical and financial evaluations, before receiving approval from the relevant committees and the hospital's board.
According to Nyamweha, the successful bidder emerged after meeting all the required procurement standards.
"The project was subjected to the necessary evaluations and approvals before it was awarded," he testified.
Nyamweha also confirmed that he was not a member of any of the committees responsible for evaluating bids. Instead, he served as the secretariat of the Infrastructure Projects Management Committee, which was chaired by Manyora at the time.
He further told the court that none of the officials involved in the procurement process declared any conflict of interest during the tender evaluation and approval stages.
The witness said the matter arose after a complaint was lodged by businesswoman Josephine Luceno, whose company, Talon Africa Limited, had won the tender for the hospital's radiology extension project.
According to Nyamweha, Luceno alleged that she had been asked to pay money in relation to the contract despite her company having successfully secured the tender. He said she submitted various documents, including bank account details, screenshots of alleged conversations, M-Pesa records and company documents to support her complaint.
Nyamweha testified that he subsequently sought an explanation from Manyora regarding the allegations but received no response. He later referred the matter to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
However, under further questioning by the defence, the witness admitted that the internal memo he claimed to have sent to Manyora had not been produced in court as evidence.
He also acknowledged that while Nairobi Hospital conducted a preliminary review of the complaint, no formal investigative report was ever prepared.
In a separate ruling earlier in the proceedings, Magistrate Mutai rejected a prosecution application seeking to bar media coverage of the case, holding that a witness's discomfort was insufficient grounds to exclude journalists from an open court hearing.
Manyora is charged with cheating contrary to Section 315 of the Penal Code. Prosecutors allege that he fraudulently obtained Sh516,000 in connection with the Nairobi Hospital tender. He has denied the charge, and the hearing continues.
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