By Wahome Thuku
Suspended High Court judge Juma Chitembwe walked out of a Nairobi court a free man after being acquitted in a Sh1.2 billion corruption case.
Also acquitted was his co-accused Rachael Lumbasyo, the former National Social Security Fund (NSSF) managing trustee.
The two were acquitted under Section 210 of the Criminal Procedure Code after a magistrate court ruled they had no case to answer in all the four charges facing them, ending a two-year trial.
The two were charged in December 2009 with conspiracy to defraud NSSF Sh1.2 billion in a transaction involving sale of land in Nairobi to Delta Resources Company.
They are also accused of having abused their offices between January and March 2008 when Chitembwe was NSSF corporation secretary before he was appointed judge.
The NSSF had decided to sell five plots between Laico Regency and Kenyatta Avenue to reduce its property portfolio and increase its liquidity. Delta Resources successfully bid for the purchase quoting Sh2.8 billion which was accepted. It paid 10 per cent of the price and the balance was deposited in an account opened by lawyers for both parties.
The sale collapsed because it was established that some of the plots were smaller than indicated on titles and other documents.
Evidence
On Monday the magistrate ruled that the prosecution had not adduced sufficient evidence of conspiracy to defraud the NSSF or abuse of office.
Ms Nyambura observed evidence showed all the parties intended to complete the transaction.
She said after 10 per cent payment had been made lawyers handling the transaction for both sides opened a joint account where the balance was deposited. Chitembwe and Lumbasyo were not signatories to the account.
"The money was deposited in the account to safeguard it and not to defraud the NSSF," Ms Nyambura ruled.
"It was to secure it and await for the dispute to be resolved."
The Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission had advised the Attorney-General that there was no criminal culpability, but the Director of Public Prosecution still went to trial. The magistrate dismissed an alternative charge of abuse of office as fatally defective.
