Kenya Bureau of Standards managing director Charles Ongwae was yet to secure his freedom by Tuesday evening, a day after he was charged with attempted murder and allowing substandard fertiliser into the country.
Mr Ongwae was given a hefty bond totaling to Sh15 million, sureties of Sh8 million and cash bail of Sh4 million in the two cases.
Those charged alongside Mr Ongwae were Eric Chesire Kiptoo, director of quality assurance at Kebs, Peter Kinyanjui, inspection manager at Kilindini Port, Coast regional manager Pole Mwangemi port health officer Erick Kariuki, Benson Oduor, Kenya Revenue Authority, and Karim Lofti, a clearing agent with Bolore Transport and Logistics Kenya Ltd.
Other than attempted murder, they denied charges of abuse of office, commission of a felony and breach of trust. They were arrested last Friday and spent the weekend in police custody.
The court heard that they unlawfully released to OCP (K) Ltd some 5,846,000 kilos of substandard compound fertiliser which contained mercury, a sustenance that endangers human life between November 13, 2017 and June 7, 2018.
After denying the charges, senior principal Magistrate Kennedy Cheruiyot ordered each of the accused to execute a bond of Sh10 million to secure their release. Each accused person is expected to deposit surety of Sh3 million plus cash bail of Sh2 million.
In a different case, the Kebs boss together with Mr Kiptoo, Erick Ochieng’ Onyango, Eric Kirui, Catherine Bowen, Robon Shake, and Rhoda Olesi Kirui denied the charge of conspiracy to defraud when they entered a Sh882 million contract with Madras Security Printers Private Ltd for the supply of ISM stickers.
The court heard that the Kebs bosses knew that the company did not have the capacity to supply the stickers when they signed the contract between December 9, 2014 and May 23, 2018.
The court ordered them to deposit Sh5 million bond each, surety of similar amount and Sh2 million cash bail.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
