BY SAM ALFAN.
Former National Youth Service(NYS) chain supply assistant has been send to jail for four years, after he was found involved IN fraudulent activities at the state corporation.
Trial Magistrate Lawrence Mugambi said that the accused Selesio Karanja, alternatively he pays Sh 5 million.
He said that prosecution had proved the case against him beyond reasonable doubt, the Magistrate further said the accused upon completion of jail term should not hold public office.
“I therefore find that the case against him has been proved to the required standards in respect to count No. 8. I find him guilty as charged and i shall convict him accordingly under provision of section 215 of the criminal procedure code,” ruled Magistrate Bidali.
Dama Services was included in the tender for procurement of the training materials in the automotive engineering faculty when they had been approved for the said tender.
“Taking all this into account and having found that Dama Services Limited was not pre-qualified for this tender, i have come into conclusion that the accused person in inserting the bame of Dawa Services Limited to the tender opening register was acting fraudulently. His defence that he acted in good faith is not tenable in this circumstances,” ruled the magistrate.
He was the secretary of the tender opening committee and the witnesses who included members of the committee told the court that the said company was not pre-qualified for the said tender.
Collins Ngesa told the court that he would record in the tender opening register and thereafter the members of the committee would sign. Court was further told that the five bids were duly signed and recorded by collins Ngesa but the six bid was not signed.
Considering the evidence in totality, the magistrate was satisfied that the bid for Dama Services Limited was not in the tender box during tender opening which explained why Collins Ngesa did not record it and also explains why the bid documents was not duly signed by the members of the committee.
According to the court, Selesio Karanja admitted in his defense he inserted the name of Dama Services Limited in the tender opening register and also confirmed in his defense that the bid for Dama Services only only bears his signature plus one other unidentified signature.
Former PS Peter Mangiti and 23 others, among them members of the Ministerial Tender Committee, were acquitted of the charge of conspiracy to commit economic crime after Chief Magistrate Kennedy Bidali ruled that the prosecution failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove that there was, indeed, a conspiracy to commit a crime.
The other suspects were Hassan Noor Hassan and Senior Deputy Director General Adan Harakhe.
The magistrate said that for a conspiracy case to be proved, there must be evidence that the accused persons, indeed, held a meeting, mooted the idea, and agreed to commit the said offence.
