Former prisons boss in court over Sh301 million graft case

Benjamin Obuya Njoga, the former Deputy Commissioner General of the Kenya Prisons Service, has been charged with conspiring with others to steal Sh301 million from the State Department of Correctional Services at the Ministry of Interior.

Njoga is accused of colluding with 12 others to commit an offence of corruption, contrary to Section 47(3), as read with Section 48 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act of 2003.

The accused, some of whom own companies linked to the case, were accused of fraudulently acquiring the Sh301,908,000 on diverse dates between July 1, 2014, and March 29, 2018.

The suspect was charged alongside Joseph Kamau Mwangi, a principal accountant at the department, James Nyang'au, an accountant at the same department, prisons officer Joseph Omaiyo and businessman Stephen Mulwa.

Their accomplices were charged on Friday last week.

"Within the Republic of Kenya, you jointly and severally conspired to commit an economic crime, namely the fraudulent acquisition of public property, to which Sh301,908, 000 being payment for goods not supplied to the state department of correctional services," one of the charges against them reads in part.

Njoga, Mwangi, Nyangau, and Omaiyo were separately charged with abuse of office, where they were accused of using their respective offices to cause payment of different amounts of money to different companies belonging to their accomplices for goods that were never supplied.

They were further accused of committing the offences between 2014 and 2018.

The Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi. (Photo: File)

Mulwa is also facing charges of fraudulent acquisition of public property, contrary to Section 45(1)(a) as read with Section 48 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act of 2003.

The suspect is accused of receiving Sh98,222,500 through his three companies.

One of the companies, Castro Supplies, was paid Sh25,650 between May 30, 2017, and November 21, 2017, for supplying nothing.

His other company, Stemu Supplies, received Sh50, 875, 000 between June 9, 2017, and October 25, of the same year, while the other one, Mulwa Farm, was paid Sh21, 697, 500 between October 24, 2017, and March 29, 2018, from the Ministry of Interior but has yet to supply anything.

Mulwa and Mwangi are also charged with money laundering, contrary to the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act.

Mwangi is accused of aiding Mulwa to purchase motor vehicles at different times using the money, knowing the same was the proceeds of crime, with the intention to disguise the same.

The suspects denied the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Celesa Okore of the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court and were released on a cash bail of Sh4 million each or an alternative bond of Sh7 million with an additional surety of a similar amount.