The magistrate who sent former Nairobi Town Clerk John Gakuo and three other former public officials to prison for corruption is the same one handling the cases of the over 40 suspects in the National Youth Service scandal. Chief Magistrate Douglas Ogoti made news in May when he sent Gakuo and former Permanent Secretary Sammy Kirui to three years in prison for abuse of office over the loss of over Sh280 million meant for cemetery land in Nairobi.
He also fined them Sh1 million each. The same Milimani Anti-Corruption court magistrate ordered a former Huduma Centre official to pay a fine of Sh500,000 after he found her guilty of receiving a bribe of Sh2,500 to facilitate the processing of a birth certificate for a parent. Mr. Ogoti directed that Ms. Justinah Syonzua Malela, a former clerk at a Huduma Centre in Kibera, spend two years in prison if she fails to pay the fine.
Among the suspects are David Kirui, Timothy Kiplagat Rotich and Ezekiel Osoro - who allegedly collected foodstuffs from the NYS stores and signed acceptance forms for goods that were never supplied in the first place. Others are chief accountant Clement Murage, Michael Ojiambo the director, the administration at the Ministry of Youth and Gender Affairs, Lucas Owino Otieno, the internal auditor at the National Treasury, all of whom were in the ministry’s verification committee and alleged approved payments to the companies that received hundreds of millions of shillings irregularly.
On Thursday, Chief Justice David Maraga told President Uhuru Kenyatta that the Judiciary would cooperate in tackling corruption. “We know you have declared war against corruption, and I want to tell you, Mr. President, we are with you. You can count on the Judiciary.”
PS Lillian Omollo: Abuse of office and failure to comply with procedures relating to the management of public funds, Richard Ndubai: Abuse of office and failure to comply with procedures relating to the management of public funds, Sammy Mbugua Mwangi: Fraudulently making payments from public revenue for goods not supplied, Rodgers Nzioka: False accounting by a public officer and abuse of office, Phillis Njeri Ngirita: Fraudulent acquisition of public property among others.