BY SAM ALFAN.
Suspended Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) managing director Bernard Njiraini and seven others have been charged with stealing condemned sugar valued at Sh20 million.
Njiraini was charged together with Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officials Joseph Kiago Kaguru, Derrick Njeru Kago, Peter Njoroge Mwangi, businessmen Crispus Waithaka Macharia, Mohammed Hassan Ali, Abdi Hisri Yusuf alias Blackie and Pollyanne Njeri.
They appeared before Milimani Chief Magistrate Lukas Onyina and denied the charges of stealing, conspiracy to commit a felony, abuse of office and possession of condemned brown sugar, among others.
The court heard that they committed the offence on diverse dates between December 9, 2022 and May 3, 2023 at unknown place in the country.
The charge sheet stated that they committed the offences jointly with others not before court by conspiring to steal condemned brown sugar valued at Sh20,064,000.
According to the prosecution, the sugar was intended to be used as raw material for distillation of industrial ethanol, belonging to KRA.
Njiraini is also accused of abuse of office after allegedly arbitrarily recommending the conversion of the condemned brown sugar into industrial ethanol through the process of distillation.
It is alleged that he committed the offence 9th December 2022 at Kenya Bureau of Standards offices in Nairobi, being the Kebs MD.
Kiago, a deputy commissioner at KRA faced a further charge of abusing his office, an offence he allegedly committed on 16th February 2022 at Times Tower in Nairobi, by arbitrarily single sourcing a company trading as Vinepack Limited to convert condemned brown sugar into ethanol without competitive bidding as directed by the Attorney General’s advisory office.
The accused persons also denied charges of interference of goods at Kings Commodities Ltd go-down at Makongeni at Thika Township within Kiambu County, an offence they allegedly committed jointly with others not before court.
They were all released on a cash bail of Sh400,000.
The case will be mentioned on 6th June 2023 for pretrial.
