Economy

NYS graft trial starts with four suspects on the run

nys

National Youth Service headquarters in Ruaraka. FILE PHOTO | NMG

The trial of the first batch of suspects linked to the loss of Sh468 million at the National Youth Service (NYS) starts this morning with four suspects still at large.

The four are Charles Makau Mulandi, a former member of the verification committee at NYS, Samuel Otieno who was described as an invoicer at NYS, Patrick Obunya, a former staff at NYS, and Humphrey Odhiambo.

The court on August 22 issued warrants for their arrest amid fears they are hiding out of the country.

So far, some 51 suspects have been charged with the loss of the funds at the agency. All the suspects are out after signing a personal bond of Sh5 million, two sureties of Sh2 million and cash bail of Sh1 million, although some of them — especially junior civil servants--sought a review before the High Court and the amounts were reduced.

Three magistrates are trying the suspects, including former Youth and Gender PS Lillian Omollo, former NYS director- general Richard Ndubai and 28 other former government officials.

Ms Omollo had tried to stop the trial but High Court Judge John Onyiego dismissed the petition, saying she was properly charged.

Justice Onyiego said the institution of charges is a prerogative of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the DPP cannot be directed on who to charge or which case to prefer.

10 cases

The former PS moved to court accusing the DPP of lumping her in 10 different cases with more than 50 accused persons, a move she claimed threatens to violate her rights.

She argued that there was real risk of delay in the event one of the accused persons absconds, falls sick or be absent from court for any reason.

Ms Omollo further said the lumping of accused persons in each charge sheet also violates her rights by denying her time and facilities to prepare her defence.

The accused persons face multiple charges of conspiracy to commit an economic crime, abuse of office and wilful failure to comply with procedures and guidelines relating to public financial management.

Chief magistrate Douglas Ogoti encouraged parties to negotiate for a plea bargain with a view to expediting the matter.

Mr Ogoti said in a ruling that parties are encouraged to negotiate and the deal would be adopted by the court.

The magistrate made the directive after consolidating the cases, saying it will help to speed up the hearing because a number of accused persons appear in all the files.

43 witnesses

In the first case, the prosecution has lined up a total of 43 witnesses, among them bank officials.

The prosecution will rely on bank statements, contracts, vouchers and memos issued by the former ministry officials.

Other than bank officials, the prosecution also intends to call document examiners, officials from the Treasury that deal with IFMIS system, contractors engaged by NYS and witnesses from the Public Procurement Oversight Authority (PPOA).

The court heard that other than oral evidence, the prosecution will also use statements from witnesses, electronic evidence and experts.

The former government officials appear in all the files, while the traders, who allegedly benefited from the dealing at the agency, appear in different files.