BY NT CORRESPONDENT.
A group of residents of Tharaka Nithi County have written to the National Treasury seeking to stop Governor Muthomi Njuki from dealing with the county funds, pending the conclusion of a corruption case against him.
Through lawyer Henry Kurauka, the residents said Njuki should not execute his duties including financial functions at the County, in compliance with a court directive, pending the determination of the graft case.
In the letter, the residents said the anti-corruption court barred him and other governors facing corruption charges, from accessing their public officers. They said the decision stemmed from a Court of Appeal decision touching on the matter against former Kiambu governor Ferdinand Ndungu Waititu Babayao.
“We request that the said Onesmus Muthomi Njuki be prevented by you from approving, signing, transacting and or getting involved in any way with the funds of Tharaka Nithi County, pending the hearing and determination of the above case” victims letter reads.
Governor Njuki and 20 others were charged with 16 counts under the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act of 2003 (ACECA), among other regimes of the law. The Honorable Court granted and admitted all the accused persons on bond or bail terms pending their trial.
According to the victims, the conditions of the said bond or bail were that the Governor Njuki and Nine other employees of Tharaka Nithi County be barred from their offices but only to visit the offices in the company of an officer from the EACC and all the accused were gagged from communicating to any of the witnesses in whatever form and or approaching them because such actions will attract cancellation of the bond terms.
“We regret to confirm that the accused Onesmus Muthomi Njuki has breached the said bond terms by failing to leave office and by communicating, threatening and intimidating witnesses through public statements and rallies” adds the victim.
The governor had been charged with conspiracy to commit an offence of corruption of over Sh34 million alongside 20 others.
They allegedly conspired to commit corruption between January 1 and October 31, 2018, at TharakaNithi county offices in relation to tender for the supply and installation of an incinerator.
Muthomi, David Mwangi and Margaret Mugweru were jointly charged with fraudulent practices in procurement.
The court heard that on January 2018 and September 24, 2018 at the county offices, the trio, being directors of Generation Electronic and Allied Ltd, fraudulently procured and supplied an incinerator to the county government in respect of the tender.
