I’m innocent, pleads former PS

Former Home Affairs permanent secretary Sylvester Mwaliko wants charges associating him with the Sh3 billion Anglo-Leasing passport scandal dropped, claiming they are ridiculous.

All evidence from the prosecution witnesses had exonerated him from blame and that he only acted under instructions, his lawyer, Ms Jane Githinji, told a Nairobi court.

“Charges facing Mr Mwaliko are ridiculous and cannot be supported by any evidence. Even the investigating officer testified that he only brought him to court due to intense pressure before investigations were complete,” said Ms Githinji.

She said there was no evidence to show that Mr Mwaliko acted arbitrarily in negotiating for the tender for new generation passports awarded to Anglo-Leasing and Finance Ltd.

The lawyer argued that the former PS could not bestow a benefit on any company as alleged in the charges, and that what he did was to offer advice whenever requested by the Finance ministry.

She dismissed allegations that Mr Mwaliko did not verify the existence of Anglo-Leasing Company before signing the contract, saying that he verified the government recurrent budget of 2002/2003 which showed that the government had been doing business with the company for some time.

In any event, she claimed that witnesses during the trial of the case said the government had recovered all the money allegedly paid out to Anglo-Leasing and there was no reason to hold Mr Mwaliko responsible.

Ms Githinji submitted that her client joined the ministry in 2000 and since he was new, he was only tasked with signing an already negotiated contract.

All the letters purportedly written by Mr Mwaliko in relation to the company, the lawyer maintained, were within the law since they contained advice to the ministers and not offers for the signing of the contract agreement.

Mr Mwaliko was in January put on his defence by senior principal magistrate Lucy Nyambura who ruled he had a case to answer in connection with the multi-billion-shilling passports tender awarded to Anglo-Leasing and Finance Ltd.

The magistrate ruled that the prosecution had provided enough evidence to prove that being the person in charge in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mr Mwaliko facilitated the award of the contract to Anglo-Leasing arbitrarily without the knowledge of the department of Immigration and without verifying the status of the company before agreeing to enter into any contract with it.

She noted that despite not having the direct approval of the Vice-President, he disregarded guidelines provided in the exchequer and audit regulations in awarding the tender.

His co-accused, former Treasury permanent secretary Joseph Magari, Dr Wilson Sitonik and Mr David Onyonka were acquitted for lack of evidence.

The judgment will be delivered on August 3.