Suspended Transport secretary Michael Kamau. PHOTO | FILE
Suspended Transport secretary Michael Kamau is to face abuse of office charges after Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Keriako Tobiko approved his prosecution on Thursday.
His Labour counterpart, Kazungu Kambi, was however spared a court date after Mr Tobiko deemed the evidence against him as insufficient.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) had on Sunday forwarded Mr Kambi and Mr Kamau’s investigation files to his office seeking his nod for prosecution.
“EACC’s recommendation to prosecute accepted. Prosecution to ensue,” Mr Tobiko said on Thursday on Mr Kamau’s file.
Mr Kamau is accused of embezzlement of funds in the ongoing construction of Kamukuywa-Kaptama-Kapsokwony-Kimilili Road, where he is said to have colluded with the contractor to change the road design, leading to loss of public funds.
Additionally, he is accused of illegally allocating a contract to a Chinese clearing and forwarding firm, Land Mark Clearing and Forwarding Company, for 14 years. The firm was allegedly tasked with handling 80 per cent of imported cargo at the port of Mombasa.
List of shame
He will become the first Cabinet secretary in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration to be charged with graft after Mr Tobiko declined to charge Lands secretary Charity Ngilu and her Agriculture counterpart Felix Koskei whose names were in the ‘List of Shame’ due to lack of evidence.
The DPP might, however, order further investigations into their alleged offences. The law requires that public servants who are charged with criminal offences be interdicted and put on half-pay until their cases are determined.
Mr Kamau’s prosecution will see the key ministry’s operations continue without a substantive head, despite overseeing projects worth billions of shillings.
Health secretary James Macharia is the acting head leaving Infrastructure principal secretary (PS) John Mosonik technically in charge of the docket.Mr Mosonik’s colleague PS Nduva Muli, who is in charge of transport, is on suspension over corruption allegations.
Of the five Cabinet secretaries in the list, only Energy secretary Davies Chirchir’s file remains with the EACC. The five have been on suspension since March.
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