Henry Kosgey - Court Case

Court Case

On 4 January 2011 Kosgey was arrested and charged in court over allegations that he authorized the importation of 113 vehicles that were older than 8 years. The law bars the importation of vehicles older than 8 years but gives the Minister powers to exempt imports from this rule. The law provides for the National Standards Council to advise the Minister on the issuance of such exemptions. It also states that the Minister should satisfy himself that it is in the national interests to grant the exemptions. Kosgey is accused of having exempted 113 vehicles from this rule without obtaining advice from the National Standards Council and without satisfying himself that it is in the national interests to give these exemptions, and by so doing abusing his office. He has denied the charges.

During the trial the Prosecution made the case that the requirement to obtain advice from the NSC is mandatory and the fact that the Minister granted exemptions without such advice meant that he broke the law. They further argued that the exemptions were not motivated by any national interests as required by law. Kosgey's defence argued that the requirement to obtain advice is not mandatory. As for the issue of national interests, they stated that this is subjective and is a matter of opinion. They also argued that Kosgey was acting according to the precedent set by his predecessors. His immediate predecessor, former Minister Mukhisa Kituyi, issued approximately 3,000 exemptions using the same law and in exactly the same manner as Kosgey without obtaining any advice from the NSC. This fact is not disputed by the Prosecution who argued that two wrongs do not make a right. Kosgey's defence have also argued that the issuance of the exemptions did not result in any loss of revenue for the government, if anything the government collected taxes for each of the 113 vehicles that had been exempted from the 8-year rule.

On Thursday 28th June 2012 the High Court in Nairobi dismissed the case against Kosgey and cleared him of any wrongdoing. In his ruling, Justice Nicholas Ombija said that Kosgey's prosecution had arisen due to differences that existed between Kosgey as the Minister and his Permanent Secretary, Karanja Kibicho. He termed the case as a gross abuse of the judicial system and an error in law.