BY NT CORRESPONDENT.
Top former Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) including suspended MD Ken Tarus and his predecessor Ben Chumo will remain in police custody pending further hearing on bail application.
This is after the two MD together with other 9 KPLC managers were charged with several corruption charges among them conspiracy to commit an economic crime, abuse of office, aiding the commission of a felony, willful failure to comply with the law, conspiracy to defeat justice and fraudulent acquisition of public property and procurement/supply of faulty transformers.
The prosecution alleges on diverse dates between August 3,2012 and June 12,2018 at Kenya power and lightning company in Nairobi county in the Republic of Kenya jointly with others not before court conspired t OK commit an offence of economic crimes namely fraudulently acquistion of public property to wit USD 4,081,920.29 KPLC for supply of transformers video tender no KPl /9AA-3/PT/09/11-12 by Muwa trading company Ltd a limited liability company.
Those charged alongside Chumo and Tarus include Beatrice Meso, K.P.Mungai, Joshua Mutua, Abubakar Swaleh, Samuel Ndirangu, Stanley Mutwiri, Benson Murithi, Peter Mwicigi, John Ombui and director of Muwa James Njenga Mungai.
They are further accused that on May 5,2018 at KPLC in Nairobi county Chumo being the MD/ CEO, Meso the General Manager corporate affairs and Company secretary, Mungai, General manager business strategy, General resource and administration, Mutua General manager information communication technology, Tarus general manager infrastructure development, Swaleh Network Management, Ndirangu regional Co-ordination, supply chain respectively, in abuse of their by facilitating the directors of Muwa to fraudulently acquire public property worthy over 200 million shillings for the supply of substandard transformers.
In the case also charged is Muwa company limited together with its three directors who allegedly won the tender to supply the transformers. The directors to believed to be from the same family.
The court was told that two MUWA directors , mother and son are out of the jurisdiction on mediacal grounds and that they will appear in court once they come back from UK.
They all pleaded not guilty to charges leveled against them by the prosecution.
Dr.Tarus in another file was charged with carelessly failing to comply with procedures and guidelines relating to procurement which led to fraudulent payments of 159,195,36.41 shillings to companies that were unprocedurallly prequalified for labor and transport service.
In that case he was charged alongside four Engineers Daniel tale, Noah ongano Omondi, Evelyne Pauline Amondi and businessman James Kariuki.
Defece lawyers have asked the court to grant the accused persons bail saying that bail is a fundamental right adding that the accused persons if released on bail will abide with all conditions set by the court.
” There are no compelling reasons table before court by Inspector Walter Oginga Okello as to why the accused should be denied bail,” said Ojienda.
He said that his clients are not a flight risk as they all fixed abode are well know to the officers.
The prosecution objected to the accused being released on bail on grounds that they will interfere with witnesses in the case.
They further said that if granted bail the accused persons are likely not to attend court proceedings.
