MP gets reprieve on Sh40m fraud case

Naivasha MP John Mututho got a reprieve Monday when a judge extended orders barring the Attorney General from prosecuting in a criminal case he is facing.

Justice Jeanne Gacheche extended the order to March next year while adjourning the case in which the MP is accused of defrauding Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) over Sh40 million, ten years ago.

The order was extended after a lawyer representing the Kenya Anti Corruption Commission (Kacc) failed to turn up for the hearing of the case. The lawyer Mr Ben Murei is said to have travelled abroad on official duty.

In the case, Mr Mututho moved to the High Court and stopped the hearing of the criminal case saying that the anti-graft agency did not prosecute him in the anti-corruption court because the case could not stand.

According to him, the case should be a civil matter adding that it stands no chance of success in the anti-corruption court.

The MP has maintained that he did not participate in either the tendering or importation of the bedside lockers but KNH and M/S Countryside Suppliers Limited -- a company allegedly associated with him -- did the transaction.

He said the firm was not investigated or prosecuted yet it is a registered liability company with powers to sue or be sued.

“Kacc has directed all its malicious venom towards me and has not investigated or prosecuted M/S Countryside Suppliers as required by law,” he said.

The anti graft body later filed its response narrating how investigations into the case were carried out. According to Mr Murei, the investigation was first carried out by the police before it took over.

It named Mr Mututho in the alleged payment of Sh41.4m million as a purported refund to Kenyatta National Hospital for the supply of bedside lockers.

Mr Murei said after investigations, the file was handed over to the AG for prosecution.

The case will now be heard on March 1, 2011.