Gachagua claws back Sh200m

The government has handed back Sh200 million it had recovered from Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua arising from questionable transactions with several State institutions.

 The money had been recovered from Gachagua by the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) in July last year.

In a consent filed before the Court of Appeal Judges Daniel Musinga, Imaana Laibuta and Ngenye Macharia, the State said it does not want to pursue the matter and urged the court to set aside the orders allowing for forfeiture of Gachagua funds by ARA.

Following the development, the three judges allowed a request from Gachagua’s lawyer Kioko Kilukumi to adopt a consent recorded by the parties.

“This court adopts the consent vide a letter dated January 19, 2023 signed by all the parties. It is so ordered,” Justice Musinga stated on behalf of the bench.

The judges vacated the forfeiture order issued by High Court Judge Esther Maina last year and also quashed the entire judgment of the High Court that declared the funds obtained by Gachagua as proceeds of crime.

Three accounts

The effect of the Court of Appeal order is that the frozen funds held in three accounts at Rafiki Microfinance Bank in the name of Rigathi Gachagua will be released to him unconditionally.

“The funds held in account number 0012070000198, being Sh165 million, account number 014207000047, being Sh35 million and account number 0012010006030, being Sh773,228.33 all in the name of Rigathi Gachagua, held at Rafiki Microfinance Bank respectively, be forthwith released to Gachagua,” the judges ordered.

They also ordered that the Sh1,138,142 held at Rafiki Microfinance Bank in the name of Jenne Enterprises be released to Anne Kimemia, a business associate of the Deputy President.

The new twist comes after ARA supported Gachagua’s on grounds that it has since established the that funds in question were not proceeds of crime and no independent investigations were done by DCI to confirm that the funds were fraudulently obtained from State institutions and the Bungoma County Government.

The police had questioned the source of Sh12.5 billion that passed through Gachagua’s personal bank accounts.

“After gathering new evidence, we found out that the money forfeited to the State six months ago was not proceeds of crime and that the Deputy President has explained the source and legitimacy of the said money to satisfaction,” ARA informed the Court of Appeal.

The agency claimed that at the time the High Court was issuing its judgment, the new evidence had not been placed before the judge since the agency was not in possession of the said evidence.

When the DCI raised the claim of the irregular acquisition, ARA moved to court hastily and obtained orders seizing the Sh200 million belonging to Gachagua without any justification, the court was told.

ARA did not investigate allegations that the Sh200 million was dirty cash before moving to forfeiture the same to the State, the court was further told.

The agency through its investigating officer Sergeant Fredrick Musyoki conceded that Gachagua obtained the money legitimately and there was no fraud involved in tenders awarded to his trading companies.

No evidence

Gachagua, who had argued that the case was politically instigated, got the money from business dealings with government institutions and Bungoma County government between 2011 and 2016 after executing several contracts.

But ARA claimed it forfeited the money on the basis of inconclusive investigations conducted by the DCI in a separate case that has since collapsed over lack of evidence.

In July last year, Justice Maina had found the money to be proceeds of corruption. At the time, Gachagua was the MP for Mathira.

In her finding, Justice Maina said no evidence was produced to show that he had  executed the contract.

“There was nothing to show he performed any contract. He only produced a letter dated February, 2015, from a ministry indicating Wamunyoro had been awarded a tender. He was required to execute a contract. Nothing to show the tender was executed,” the judge said.

During the pendency of the case, the agency had told Justice Maina that in March 2020, they received information on a suspected case of money laundering involving public funds from different national government ministries.