By Janet Nyamwamu KISUMU, June 8, 2025
A Kisumu court has acquitted all 12 accused in the long-running anti-corruption case involving the Lake Basin Development Authority (LBDA) retail mall project, citing insufficient evidence and inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case.
Principal Magistrate Celesa Okore delivered the ruling on June 3, 2025, effectively closing Anti-Corruption Case No. 26 of 2019, which had lingered in court for six years.
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Only 10 of the 46 anticipated prosecution witnesses had testified.
The turning point came after the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) sought to withdraw the charges. In an application dated May 6, 2025, Principal Prosecution Counsel Kennedy Panyako invoked Section 87(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code, following a reassessment of the evidence.
Key testimony from former LBDA Managing Director Dr. Evans Atera indicated that payments in the project were made in reliance on a legal opinion issued by the Attorney General on January 31, 2017.
The opinion validated the agreements between LBDA and one of the defendants, stating that contractual obligations, including accrued interest, were enforceable until fully paid.
Future prosecution
While the defence did not object to the withdrawal of charges, they opposed the legal basis cited, arguing that Section 87(a) leaves room for future prosecution. Instead, they advocated for Section 204, which would bar retrial.
However, the court found Section 204 inapplicable, as it required the complainant’s sworn testimony—absent in this case.
Magistrate Okore found that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case.
She noted that testimony from the ninth prosecution witness, corroborated by documents, directly contradicted the charges.
With no intention by the state to call further witnesses, the court deemed continuation of the trial unjustified.
The magistrate dismissed the application under Section 87(a) and instead applied Section 210 of the Criminal Procedure Code, acquitting all accused on the grounds that they had no case to answer.
As part of the judgment, the court ordered the release of all confiscated items, return of travel documents, discharge of sureties, and directed that each party bear its own costs.
All parties were granted a 14-day window to appeal.
Among those acquitted were Bobasi MP Innocent Obiri Momanyi and former LBDA chairperson Onyango Oloo.
The high-profile ruling brings to an end a case that had attracted national attention due to the scale of public funds involved.
It also raises fresh concerns about the rigour of corruption investigations and the prosecutorial approach to complex economic crime cases in Kenya.
