NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 18 – A prosecution witness in the fraud case facing political analyst Herman Manyora has admitted before a Nairobi court that he has no evidence showing the accused influenced the award of a multimillion-shilling tender at The Nairobi Hospital.
Gilbert Nyamweha made the concession during cross-examination before Senior Principal Magistrate Peter Mutai, where he acknowledged that the procurement process followed the hospital’s established procedures and approvals.
Under questioning by the defence, Nyamweha told the court he could not identify any action by Manyora that interfered with or altered the tendering process.
He confirmed that the radiology extension project was awarded after undergoing preliminary, technical and financial evaluations before approval by the relevant committees and the hospital’s board.
Nyamweha also admitted that he was not a member of the procurement evaluation committees involved in assessing bids for the project.
Instead, he said he served as secretariat to the Infrastructure Projects Management Committee, which was chaired by Manyora at the time.
The witness further testified that no member involved in the procurement process declared any conflict of interest as required under the hospital’s internal procurement procedures.
According to Nyamweha, the matter arose after a complaint was lodged by Josephine Luceno, who claimed she had been asked to pay money in relation to the radiology extension tender despite her company, Talon Africa Limited, having successfully secured the contract.
He told the court that Luceno submitted several documents in support of her complaint, including bank details, screenshots of alleged conversations, M-Pesa transaction records and company documents.
Nyamweha said he later sought an explanation from Manyora regarding the allegations but did not receive a response before escalating the matter to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
However, during cross-examination, the witness conceded that the internal memo he claimed to have sent to Manyora had not been produced before the court as evidence.
He also admitted that although the hospital carried out a preliminary internal review into the allegations, no formal investigative report was prepared.
Earlier in the proceedings, Magistrate Mutai dismissed an application by the prosecution seeking to bar media coverage of the trial.
The magistrate ruled that a witness expressing discomfort with media presence was not sufficient grounds to exclude journalists from proceedings held in open court.
Manyora is facing charges of cheating contrary to Section 315 of the Penal Code.
The prosecution alleges that he fraudulently obtained Sh516,000 in connection with the Nairobi Hospital tender.
He has denied the charges, and the case will continue on a later date.
