A Nairobi court has issued a warrant of arrest against former Kisumu County Assembly Speaker Onyango Oloo.
Oloo failed to appear in court in the Sh2.5 billion Lake Basin Development Authority's mall scandal on Monday, March 22.
The court, noting that the Oloo had also not appeared in court when the matter was last mentioned, issued the arrest warrant and ordered him to appear in court on May 2 to plead to fresh charges.
On Monday, the prosecution dropped charges against 14 accused persons in the case after they agreed to testify as state witnesses.
But responding after the arrest warrant was issued, Oloo claimed that he was not aware of the court session.
Further, Oloo said that he has been in isolation after be came into contact with a person who tested positive for Covid-19.
The former County Speaker is expected to face 11 new charges in the amended charges filed in court by the Director of Public of Prosecutions on Monday morning.
In the case, the former Speaker was accused of conspiring with the contractors including Zeyun Yang and Zhang Jing, directors of Edermann Property Limited, to defraud the public billions of shillings in the tendering for the construction of the LBDA mall in Kisumu County.
The firm, Edermann, was accused of bribing Oloo, then the chairman of the LBDA board, with Sh17 million and other benefits, including apartments and shops.
In the first count in the revised charges, the court heard between January 21, 2013 and May20, 2018, former LBDA managing director and Board, consultants and main contract conspired to defraud LBDA of Sh667, 275, 202 in the tender for construction, development and financing of the retail mail at Kanyakwar, Kisumu town.
