Former Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa is staring at another legal battle after the court overturned decisions to acquit him in Ksh39 billion fake guns case.
In a judgment delivered by High Court Judge Kanyi Kimondo, it was found that the trial magistrate erred in acquitting Echesa based on a lack of testimony from certain witnesses.
Judge Kimondo ruled that the prosecution had presented a strong case against Echesa who was recently appointed chairperson for the Kenya Water Towers Agency.
The judge insisted that the trial court should have found him with a case to answer, hence putting him on his defence rather than acquitting him.
"The judge directed Echesa to appear in person before the Milimani Chief Magistrate on 4th March 2024, for mention and directions on his defence hearing in the arms matter," a statement issued by the office of the Director of Public Prosecution read in part.
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"Echesa had been charged alongside Daniel Otieno, Clifford Okoth, Kennedy Oyoo and Chrispin Oduor Odipo with conspiring to commit a felony, making a document without authority, obtaining money by false pretense, attempting to commit a felony, and uttering a false document in the Ksh39 billion fake arm scandal," DPP added.
Two foreigners were complainants in the case were Kozlowski Stanley Bruno, the CEO of US-based ECO Advanced Technologies firm and Egyptian Mamdough Mostafa Lofty who claimed that Echesa and his co-accused wanted to dupe them in the fake arms scandal.
The Prosecution had called a total of 18 witnesses in the case including the former defence PS Ibrahim Mohamed.
Others who testified to the case were three Major officers from Kenya's defence forces, a pilot, several officers from DCI and an employee from the office of the Deputy President.
Most of the witnesses testified in camera due to the nature of the information regarding the Department of Defense was confidential.
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