Milimani Magistrate’s Court has acquitted Nairobi UDA woman representative aspirant Faith Mwikali Ndiwa, alias Mama Tutam, in a Sh25 million fraud case after finding that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
Ndiwa had been charged with several offences, including obtaining money by false pretences and cheating, over allegations that she defrauded Nigerian bank official Jude Olabayo Veracruz of Sh25 million between June and December 2022.
The aspiring politician denied all the charges and pleaded not guilty.
Principal Magistrate Caroline Nyaguthii Mugo delivered the acquittal on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, finding that although the complainant had parted with substantial amounts of money, the prosecution had failed to establish that he did so because of false representations made by Ndiwa.
The case centred on allegations surrounding government tender financing, with the prosecution relying, among other evidence, on communications between Ndiwa and the complainant as well as documents relating to alleged KEMSA tenders. However, the court found crucial gaps in the evidence linking Ndiwa to the alleged fraudulent transactions.
The magistrate noted that no independent witness had testified to seeing Ndiwa give the disputed tender documents to the complainant or discuss the tenders with him in the manner alleged by the prosecution. The court also questioned the WhatsApp evidence presented during the trial, noting that the prosecution had not established that the telephone numbers used in the communication belonged to or were operated by Ndiwa.
“No witness from Safaricom or any other telecommunication service provider was called to establish that either the telephone numbers were registered or were used by the accused person,” the court observed.
The magistrate further found that several payments allegedly made by the complainant to third parties had not been sufficiently connected to Ndiwa. The prosecution had also failed to call some key witnesses who could have explained the purpose of the payments and their alleged links to the accused.
While the court acknowledged that the disputed KEMSA documents were not authentic, it found that the prosecution had not established the crucial connection between the documents, the money lost by the complainant and Ndiwa’s alleged criminal responsibility.
“The complainant evidence establishes that he parted with the substantial sums of money. It also establishes that the KEMSA documents he subsequently presented to KEMSA were not authentic,” the magistrate said. “What is missing is the crucial evidential link between these two facts and the accused person’s criminal responsibility, ” she added.
Magistrate Nyaguthii consequently found Ndiwa not guilty and acquitted her on all counts under Section 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
