High Court rejects bid to hold DPP liable for Sh63bn dam case collapse

The High Court has rejected attempts to hold the Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga and two members of his prosecution team personally accountable for the collapse of the Sh63 billion Arror and Kimwarer dams corruption trial, finding that claims of misconduct against them were not backed by evidence.

Justice Roselyn Aburili ruled that Transparency International Kenya, Katiba Institute and two other petitioners had failed to establish that the officials acted negligently, unlawfully or in bad faith while handling the case that ended with the acquittal of former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich and eight co-accused persons.

The petition had targeted Ingonga alongside prosecution counsels Geoffrey Obiri and Oliver Mureithi, accusing them of mishandling the high-profile proceedings and contributing to the failure of the prosecution.

The petitioners argued that the case had fallen apart because the prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence against the accused persons.

They questioned why only eight of the 49 witnesses lined up by the prosecution reportedly took the stand during the trial.

Rotich and his eight co-accused were acquitted by the Anti-Corruption Court on December 14, 2023, over charges linked to the controversial dam projects.

In her judgment delivered virtually on Monday, November 9, 2026, Justice Aburili dismissed the argument that the prosecution officials had deliberately weakened the case by failing to call witnesses.

The judge also ruled that requests by the prosecution team for adjournments to seek directions could not, on their own, be treated as evidence of negligence or unlawful conduct.

“Having considered the petition, the response and arguments by the parties, the conclusion the court comes to is that the petitioners did not demonstrate that the respondents acted unlawfully, negligently or in bad faith while discharging their lawful duties that would have amounted to dereliction of duty to strip them of the immunity granted to them by law,” the judge ruled.

Justice Aburili further noted that the circumstances surrounding the proceedings had compelled the two prosecution counsels to conduct themselves as they did.

She found no evidence that their actions were driven by nepotism, favouritism or other improper interests, or that they had abandoned the requirement to carry out their responsibilities fairly and impartially.

The court consequently declined to remove the legal protection enjoyed by the DPP and the two prosecutors under Section 15 of the relevant Act, saying the petitioners had not established grounds for holding them personally liable.

The case had sought to challenge the conduct of the prosecution following the acquittal of Rotich and his co-accused in one of Kenya's major corruption cases involving the Sh63 billion dam projects.

The Arror and Kimwarer schemes had attracted widespread public attention after allegations of financial irregularities emerged during their implementation.

However, Justice Aburili concluded that the accusations against the prosecution officials did not meet the threshold required to lift their statutory immunity.

“The petition therefore fails and is dismissed; there will be no order as to costs,” Justice Aburili ruled.