Itumbi’s Ruaraka land case against Matiang’i dismissed

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov, 27 – Former State house Director of Communication, Digital and Innovation Dennis Itumbi application seeking to prosecute Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i over the Ruaraka land scandal has been dismissed.

Itumbi appeared before Anti-corruption court magistrate Daniel Ogoti.

He had previously appeared in Court on Tuesday seeking to privately prosecute Matiang’i.

He told the court that he had enough evidence to proceed with the case.

Friday however, despite making his submissions, the court determined that Itumbi had failed to explain how he accessed information that was in his affidavit.

“None of the paragraphs in the affidavit reveal the source of information. The affidavit does not contain details on whether he had permission to use the information or when he obtained them,” the Magistrate ruled.

The magistrate stated that by not describing how he obtained the information, both public and private, the document could not be used in court.

“There was no demand from the custodian of the documents. The was no certified copies of the public documents and they did not bear any signature,” reads the ruling.

Itumbi, the court ruled, failed to demonstrate how he exercised his right under article 35, (1) of the constitution to access information.

The documents included letters from the ministry of education, National Treasury and Commissioner of Lands.

“The documents do not meet the legal threshold and can not be used in court. They do not meet the admissibility test as prescribed in the evidence act,” ruled Ogoti.

Itumbi is expected to seek a review of the ruling by Magistrate Ogoti.

He had sought to charge the interior CS for four counts of corruption, abuse of office, wilfully failure to comply with the law relating to management of public funds, committing an offence of financial misconduct and conspiracy to defraud.