Court Overturns Acquittal of Former Sports CS Echesa in Sh39 Billion Fake Arms Deal

The High Court in Nairobi has overturned the acquittal of former Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa in the Sh39 billion fake arms case.

In a judgment delivered by High Court Judge Kanyi Kimondo on February 29, it was found that the trial magistrate erred in acquitting Echesa based on a lack of testimony from certain witnesses.

Kimondo ruled that the prosecution had presented a strong case against Echesa and that the trial court should have found him with a case to answer, hence putting him on his defense rather than acquitting him.

Read: Magistrate who Acquitted Echesa in Fake Arms Deal Suspended for Delivering Ruling at Night

The judge directed Echesa to appear in person before the Milimani Chief Magistrate on March 4, 2024, for mention and directions on his defense hearing.

Echesa had been charged alongside Daniel Otieno, Clifford Okoth, Kennedy Oyoo and Chrispin Oduor Odipo with conspiring to commit a felony, making a document without authority, obtaining money by false pretense, attempting to commit a felony, and uttering a false document in the Sh39 billion fake arms scandal.

He was later sacked from the cabinet over the saga.