Sh3m fraud case official freed

• Director cleared due to lack of sufficient evidence

A senior Education ministry official accused of defrauding the government of Sh3 million has been set free by a Nairobi court.
Dr Concilia Ondiek was cleared by Anti-Corruption Court magistrate Lucy Nyambura due to lack of sufficient evidence.

The magistrate said the prosecution had failed to prove the case against Dr Ondiek, the deputy director of Secondary and Tertiary Education, beyond reasonable doubt.

“The prosecution has not been able to discharge its duty adequately,” said the magistrate.

There was no evidence adduced by the prosecution to show that Dr Ondiek conferred the Sh3 million to herself and used it for her personal use, the magistrate said.

A total of 16 prosecution witnesses testified.

Dr Ondiek had been accused of unlawfully allocating herself the cash as part of her imprest.

She was accused of using her office to improperly confer a benefit to herself.

Dr Ondiek denied that she furnished false accounts to the ministry.

The prosecution had claimed the offences were committed in June 2009.

Denied cash allocation

Prosecutor Joseph Gikonyo had asked the court to convict Dr Ondiek, maintaining that he had proved that she was paid Sh5,545,300 as imprest.

But in her defence, Dr Ondiek denied that she had allocated herself Sh3 million.

The Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission had in 2010 taken eight top Education ministry officials to court over lost free education funds.