First NYS graft suspect jailed for tender fraud

The court has ordered a suspect in the 2015 National Youth Service scandal to pay Sh4 million fine or serve four years in prison for the conspiracy to steal from the State agency.

Anti-corruption Chief Magistrate Lawrence Mugambi found Selisio Karanja, former supply chain management officer at the NYS, guilty of fraud.

The conviction makes Karanja the first and only accused person in the scandal to be punished after the court freed former PS Peter Mangiti and 23 others who had been charged.

Several NYS cases are before the court over loss of millions of shillings.

The magistrate ruled that Karanja, who was also a secretary of the opening tender committee, betrayed public trust by engaging in corrupt practice to manipulate procurement of goods at a public entity.

“Although he is a church elder, the honour bestowed by church, he is expected to be a person of integrity and not to be involved in criminal acts of fraud perpetrated by the smacks of dishonesty in discharge of his public duties,” said Mr Mugambi.

“Having referred to his mitigation and considering the seriousness of the offence, I sentence him to pay a fine of Sh4 million or in default four years imprisonment.”

Mr Karanja joined the NYS in 2008.

The court acquitted Mr Mangiti, Hassan Noor Hassan, Adan Gedow Harakhe and others last March of unlawful disposal of public funds charge.

The court, however, found Karanja had a case to answer.

The former procurement officer was accused that on January 29, 2015, at the NYS headquarters in Nairobi, as supply chain assistant at the agency, he engaged in fraudulent act in procurement by inserting the name of Dama Services Limited in the tender opening register, for the procurement of training materials in the automotive engineering faculty.

The prosecution said Dama Services had not been approved for the said tender.