The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has appealed the acquittal of 23 persons, including former Devolution Permanent Secretary Peter Mangiti, accused of conspiracy to steal Sh47.6 million from the National Youth Service (NYS).
In the appeal to be heard in June, the DPP has faulted the decision by trial magistrate Kennedy Bidali, saying he failed to analyse evidence before him and the role played by each of the accused person in the loss public funds.
The prosecution argued that the court failed to find that the procurement process hadn't complied with all the relevant laws despite overwhelming evidence indicating otherwise.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has appealed the acquittal of 23 persons, including former Devolution Permanent Secretary Peter Mangiti, accused of conspiracy to steal Sh47.6 million from the National Youth Service (NYS).
In the appeal to be heard in June, the DPP has faulted the decision by trial magistrate Kennedy Bidali, saying he failed to analyse evidence before him and the role played by each of the accused person in the loss public funds.
The prosecution argued that the court failed to find that the procurement process hadn't complied with all the relevant laws despite overwhelming evidence indicating otherwise.
Mr Mangiti and 23 others had been charged with seven counts, including making payments of Sh47.6 million to Blue Star Enterprises despite the firm not being in the list of those picked to supply goods and servives to the NYS.
In his judgment in March last year, Mr Bidali said the prosecution failed to establish wrongdoing against the 23 accused persons.
The court, however, found former supply chain assistant at the NYS Selesio Karanja guilty and sentenced him to serve four years in jail or pay a Sh4 million fine. Mr Karanja is accused of having fraudulently inserted the name of Dama Services Limited on the tender opening register on January 29, 2015 for the procurement of training materials in the automotive engineering faculty.
Mr Bidali said businesswomen Jeniffer Muthoni Kinoti and Betty Njoki did apply for and won the tender for the supply of training equipment and that the goods were supplied and payments made.
But the DPP argued that evidence on record showed that from the date when the bids were opened till the award of the tender by the ministerial tender committee, the technical evaluation committee had not been appointed. The DPP further said that no evaluation was ever conducted.
Blue Star Enterprises, the DPP said, was not among companies pre-qualified to supply goods and services to the Ministry of Devolution for the years 2014/2015 and 2015/2016.
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