Court suspends trial of 7 GDC ex-bosses in Sh1.7bn tender case
What you need to know:
- They are Mr Godwin Mwagae Mwawongo, Mr Peter Ayodo Omenda and tender committee members Mr Abraham Kipchirchir Saat, Mr Michael Maingi Mbevi, Mr Nicholas Weke, Mr Caleb Mbayi and Mr Bruno Linyiru.
The top court's judges ruled that they demonstrated an arguable case which would be rendered nugatory if the reprieve orders were not granted as requested.
Seven former Geothermal Development Company (GDC) managers will wait longer to know whether their criminal trials over irregularities in the award of a Sh1.7 billion tender will be permanently quashed or proceed.
On Tuesday, Supreme Court judges David Maraga, Philomena Mwilu, Mohamed Ibrahim, Smokin Wanjala and Isaac Lenaola suspended a decision that allowed the prosecution to go on before the Anti-Corruption Court in a row that dates back to about eight years ago.
The seven are Mr Godwin Mwagae Mwawongo, Mr Peter Ayodo Omenda and tender committee members Mr Abraham Kipchirchir Saat, Mr Michael Maingi Mbevi, Mr Nicholas Weke, Mr Caleb Mbayi and Mr Bruno Linyiru.
The top court's judges ruled that they demonstrated an arguable case which would be rendered nugatory if the reprieve orders were not granted as requested.
“The execution of the decision of the Court of Appeal delivered on September 20 is hereby stayed pending the hearing and determination of the appeal before this court,” the judges ruled.
WHAT HAPPENED
The dispute started when the tender for provision of rig moving services for Menengai Geothermal Project was advertised on July 4, 2012 as per the Public Procurement and Disposal Act 2005 and the Public Procurement and Disposal Regulations 2006.
Soon after completing the tendering process in October 2015, the seven learnt they were to face prosecution over the same and were subsequently charged in court.
They were charged with the offences of wilful failure to comply with procurement laws and inappropriate influence on evaluation, contrary to the law.
They were released on a cash bail of Sh5 million each when they were charged alongside the company's former managing director Silas Simiyu, who faced additional charges.
The seven moved to the High Court, where Justice George Odunga ordered the Anti-Corruption Court to stop their prosecution after finding that their conduct was not illegal.
Justice Odunga ruled that the seven did not contravene the law by failing to consider the past pricing of a similar tender when they awarded Bonafide Clearing and Forwarding Limited the lucrative deal.
The judge said the past pricing was not a part of the tender invitation documents hence the managers would have flouted procurement laws by considering it for the bid awarded to the firm.
But their victory was short lived as the Ethics and Anti- Corruption Commission and the Director of Public Prosecution took the battle to the Court of Appeal, which ruled that the decision to charge them was not unreasonable
