Mututho cleared of Sh41m fraud charges

A court has cleared John Mututho of the Sh41 million fraud charges which Kenya’s anti-corruption agency preferred against him more than 15 years ago.

The trial court declared the evidence in the case could not “sustain a conviction” and “only served to exonerate him upon careful consideration.”

Mr Mututho, who is the chairman of National Authority for Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Nacada, had been charged with obtaining the money falsely.

He had been accused of obtaining the money through a tax refund his company placed on Kenyatta National Hospital for the supply of bedside lockers.

Mr Mututho’s lawyer, Cliff Ombeta, put the agency on notice for a compensation suit for having “subjected my client’s name to disrepute, loss of business and time”, shortly after the verdict was delivered by Ms Elena Nderitu at the Milimani law court on Friday.

DUE PROCESS FOLLOWED

“There is no doubt that due process was followed in the award of the tender, the quality of the bedside kits delivered was never disputed...in fact the investigating officer confirmed seeing the lockers at KNH,” the magistrate said.

She said the purported fake documents Mr Mututho had been charged with making and presenting for his claims did not originate from him or his company, Countryside Suppliers Limited, but were “the handiwork of dishonest KRA agents who cleared the goods at the Mombasa port.”

“Also not in dispute was the requirement that the supplier pays duties and taxes and later claim a refund on production of original receipts,” the magistrate said.

She said KNH had been bound by the contract to reimburse Mr Mututho’s company for the duties incurred in the importation of the bedside lockers.

“The accused confirmed the receipt of a cheque for the reimbursement, which had been approved by the hospital’s director,” she said.

The issues for determination, the magistrate said, were whether Mututho was a director of the company in the suit, whether the exhibits presented were false documents and whether he obtained the money falsely.

NO FALSEHOOD ESTABLISHED

“The evidence did not establish falsehood and required standard proof which is the burden of the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt, and in case there is doubt in the mind of the court, then the accused person must be acquitted,” Ms Nderitu said.

She said that though a documents examiner found the questioned documents to be suspect, they were supplied by KRA officials and not Mr Mututho, hence the allegation that he forged them would not stand.

‘Further, he has not been charged with making the documents... there is no evidence suggesting that the accused had an input, indeed the documents vindicate the accused person, he did not personally hand the disputed documents to the hospital,” the magistrate said.

POLITICALLY MOTIVATED

She said that despite Mr Mututho being a prime mover of the events culminating in the case, he duly imported the bedside lockers and paid duty.

“It cannot thus be aid he obtained the money falsely,” she said.

Mr Mututho had initially told the court the case had been politically motivated after he teamed up in the “Oranges” campaign against the “Bananas” in the run up to the 2005 referendum.