Some of Eight suspects in the Sh791 National Youth Service scam at Milimani law courts(FILE PHOTO).
BY SAM ALFAN.
Eight suspects in the Sh791 National Youth Service scam have lost their bid to block former Devolution Cabinet Secretary from making comments about the ongoing Money laundering case.
Senior Principal Magistrate Martha Mutuku dismissed the application made by one of the suspects saying it lacks merits.
“The application is unmerited because there was no evidence on summon or press cutting were made available for scrutiny” said Mutuku.
They further lost their attempt to stop the Public Accounts Committee to summon them to appear before it to shed light on the matter.
The learned magistrate said she cannot bar the former Cs since she was not served with the application in person.
The made the application last week seeking Ms Waiguru to stop making any comments about the ongoing case.
They have been charged with money laundering.
Lawyer Maina Wachira for John Kinuthia and Paul Van Dame urged the court to bar Waiguru from
commenting on the matter completely since it is prejudicial to their clients.
They said Waiguru has been making endless trips to media houses continually making comments
exonerating her at the expense of the suspects.
They additionally want the Public Accounts Committee barred from summoning any of the accused.
Call and letters have been dispatched by from the committee summoning them to appear before it on various dates.
Director of Public Prosecution Keriako Tobiko cautioned that he could not speak on behalf of the ex-CS saying she is no longer a public officer or a witness in the case and as such if the court deems
it necessary should serve her with summons like any other ordinary Kenyan.
The court has also declined to expunge Charity Gethi from the trial.
Senior Principal Magistrate Martha Mutuku decline the application citing endless time by accused person to appear in court.
Josephine Kabura and Ben Gethi appeared before Nairobi chief magistrate Daniel Ogembo alongside six others on Monday.
They denied 15 counts of money laundering and were released on Sh300,000 cash bail or Sh1 million bond each.
The eight were accused of colluding to wire the amount from NYS coffers and using part of it to purchase property through phony companies.
They allegedly committed the offences between December 1, 2014 and March 2015.
Gethi’s mother Charity, his sister Jedida Wangari and one other suspect did not appear in court.
The magistrate heard that Charity was admitted at Melchizedek Hospital in Nairobi. He issued warrants for the arrest of the two.
The 11 suspects were to answer to the charges in February but were yet to following multiple applications seeking to block their prosecution.
Appearing before Parliament Committee businessman Ben Gethi has admitted to inflating prices of fuel that a firm he partnered with supplied to the National Youth Service.
Gethi said on Tuesday that he has received Sh500 million so far from Horizon Enterprise for fuel and diesel contracts with the youth service.
He faced the Public Accounts Committee in connection to the Sh791 million scandal.
The businessman refused to reveal the name of the firm he partnered with in the presence of journalists.
MPs had asked him how he landed the deal without ever being a fuel dealer.
But he revealed that he supplied fuel at Sh104 per litre against the market price of Sh78 between 2014 and 2015.
The businessman explained that his was because of the fluctuation of fuel prices in that period. He further said the fuel delivered was not specifically petrol and diesel.
“We were forced to bid because the prices were not stable and being in business it was fair to be on the safe side,” he said. “We delivered fuel like gear oil, lubricating oil and normal fuel so the prices covered all these.”
Gethi also admitted that the Energy Regulatory Commission dd not license him to supply fuel on wholesale as required by law.
