The Milimani Anti-Corruption Court has freed on bond Deputy Commissioner General of Prisons Benjamin Obuya and four other junior officers in a Ksh302 million scandal.
Obuya and his juniors were charged on Monday, July 22, 2024, with the alleged fraudulent acquisition of Ksh302 million, purportedly as payment for goods never delivered.
Prisons employees charged
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), in a statement issued on Monday, said Obuya and junior employees of the State Department for Correctional Services conspired to commit economic crimes.
The four junior employees are Joseph Kamau (Principal Accountant), James Nyang’au Gekobe (Accountant II), Joseph Ochoki Omaiyo (Warder), and businessman Steven Kisonzo Mulwa.
However, the accused persons, who appeared before Principal Magistrate Celesa Asis Okore, pleaded not guilty to the charges and were each released on a bond of Ksh7 million with one surety of an equivalent amount.
The court granted them an alternative cash bail of Ksh4 million and ordered them to surrender their passports.
According to the charges, the accused persons fraudulently acquired public property totalling Ksh301.9, supposedly for goods never received by the State Department for Correctional Services, between July 1, 2014, and March 29, 2018.
Money laundering
ODPP, in the issued statement, says the accused persons also face other charges of abuse of office, fraudulent acquisition of public property, and money laundering.
“In addition to conspiracy charges, they are also accused of Abuse of Office under Section 46 and Section 48 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act No. 3 of 2003, Fraudulent Acquisition of Public Property under Section 45(1)(a) and Section 48 of the same Act, and Money Laundering under Section 3(a)(i) and Section 16 of the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act,” the ODPP statement reads in part.
Their accomplices, Humphrey Wende Abok and Joseph Kariuiki, however, failed to appear in court. As a result, the prosecution counsel, Wesley Nyamache, requested the court issue a new summons against them, which was granted.
The case is scheduled for mention on August 2, 2024.
Millionaire cleaner
On Wednesday, July 18, 2024, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) announced the arrest of the prison officers, among them Eric Mutai, a cleaner who reportedly owns seven companies that received Ksh257 million despite not supplying anything to the prison stations.
Mutai was charged on Friday, July 19, 2024, alongside assistant director of supply chain management services Mageto Omari Mireiri, chief finance officer Sarah Kemunto, principal accountant Joseph Kamau, accountant Moses Juma Sirengo, and businesswoman Maureen Ndungwa Mwikya, the director of Reen East Africa Company.
They, however, denied 68 corruption charges of conspiracy to commit an economic crime, abuse of office, and money laundering and were also released on bond.