Economy

Transport CS Kamau pleads not guilty, released on Sh1mn bail

kamaujail

Suspended Transport CS Michael Kamau during his appearance in court Thursday morning. PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Suspended Cabinet secretary Michael Kamau was in court Thursday after days of cat-and-mouse manoeuvres to avoid arrest by anti-graft authorities.

He pleaded not guilty to four charges related to abuse of office and failure to follow procurement rules and was released on a Sh3 million bond with a similar surety or a cash bail of Sh1 million.

Mr Kamau, who appeared before Senior Principal Magistrate Lawrence Mogambi, was charged alongside Nicholas Mburu Ngang’a and Kaka Matemu Kithyo. Both also denied the charges against them.

Mr Ngang’a was released on similar terms to the CS, while the third accused was released on a Sh600,000 bail.

The suspended Transport secretary had appeared in court earlier as directed by a High Court judge hearing an application he filed Tuesday seeking to stop the planned prosecution.

Justice Mumbi Ngugi had directed that he should take the plea as planned but hearing of the case should not proceed until she rules on his application.

The CS, however, did not take a plea, after the magistrate handed him back to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) for processing.

Officers of the EACC took him away for “processing” at their Integrity Centre headquarters.

He returned to take a plea on four graft charges related to a design tender on a road construction project in Western Kenya.

Mr Kamau is accused of colluding in the irregular trashing of the Kamukuywa-Kaptama-Kapsokwony-Kimilili road design “leading to embezzlement of public funds”.

He is also under investigation by EACC for allegedly illegally contracting a local firm to handle cargo belonging to the Chinese firm contracted to build the standard gauge railway, and directing billions of shillings of SGR-related consultancy work to a firm linked to him.