Former Nakuru County secretary Joseph Motari has been arraigned in a Nakuru court to answer to charges of abuse office contrary to section 46 and 48(1) of the Anti-corruption and economic crimes Act 2003.
According to the charge sheet seen by this writer, Motari while holding a position as County secretary is said to have used his office to improperly confer a benefit to Johnson Njuguna Kamau with an appointment to the position of Director of Water in the Department of Environment, Natural resources energy and water without following recruitment procedures.
However, appearing on Thursday morning before Principal Magistrate Bernard Mararo, the former County Secretary denied the charges.His lawyers Prof. Tom Ojienda, Hari Gakinya, David Mongeri are making an application to the court to allow their client to be out on bond to attend to his duties as a civil servant.
They argued that their client would oblige to attend court sessions as when required to do so without failure. Prof. Ojienda told the court that his client was no longer in position as the county secretary and therefore he would not in any way interfere with the proceedings or even the witnesses.
“Our client is a senior civil servant who will attend all court sessions as required by the law. Since he was arrested yesterday and spent in police custody, we urge this court to release him on bond so that he can be allowed to rest.
Principal Magistrate Bernard Mararo ordered that the accused released on a bond of Ksh.500, 000 and surety of similar amount.The matter will be mentioned on January 17 Jan before a Nakuru Chief Magistrate Court.