Lamu West MP Julius Ndegwa charged with abuse of office, freed on Sh1m bail
Lamu West MP Julius Ndegwa addresses journalists outside the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission offices in Mombasa on April 13, 2015. LABAN WALLOGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Mr Kariuki denied the charges and were released on a Sh3 million bond or an alternative of Sh1 million cash bail.
Assistant Director of Public Prosecution Alexander Muteti applied for warrants of arrest against Alfred Mnjaema and Cornell Tuva, who have been also been charged alongside the MP and the four accused.
The offences are alleged to have been committed on diverse dates between July 7 and October 30, 2013 at Lamu County.
Lamu West Member of Parliament Julius Ndegwa Kariuki has been charged with abuse of office.
Mr Kariuki was also charged alongside four other members of a Constituency Development Fund (CDF) committee with conspiracy to commit an economic crime and irregular re-allocation of allocated funds within the CDF.
The MP and Michael Thegeru, Yussuf Hassan, Sophia Wanjiru and Zakayo Gitonga were also charged with misappropriating the CDF allocations.
The accused, who appeared before Mombasa Chief Magistrate Susan Shitubi, denied the charges and were released on a Sh3 million bond or an alternative of Sh1 million cash bail.
FRAUDULENT PRACTICES
They allegedly, jointly through corrupt and fraudulent practices, caused an irregular transfer of Sh1.6 million to the Lamu CDF office account, which was allocated for the construction of the Witu Livestock Cattle Dip.
Mr Kariuki, Mr Thegeru, Mr Hassan, Ms Wanjiru and Mr Gitonga, also being members of the Witu Livestock Cooperative Cattle Dip Project's management committee, jointly reallocated the money meant for the dip project without any approval from the CDF board.
The court also heard that the accused jointly misappropriated the money allocated for the project.
Mr Kariuki allegedly used his office to improperly confer Sh1 million to himself meant for the administration of the Lamu West CDF office.
The offences are alleged to have been committed on diverse dates between July 7 and October 30, 2013 in Lamu County.
ARREST WARRANTS
Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Alexander Muteti applied for warrants of arrest against Alfred Mnjaema and Cornell Tuva, who have also been charged alongside the MP and the four accused.
Mr Muteti, who did not oppose the release on bond of the five accused, said Mr Mnjaema and Mr Tuva had been informed that they were required to appear in court on Wednesday.
Through lawyer William Kahindi, the MP and his co-accused had applied to be released on bond saying they were not a flight risk.
“The first accused is MP for Lamu West, others live and work there (Lamu), I ask the court to release them on their own bond or reasonable terms,” said Mr Kahindi.
The magistrate fixed the case for hearing on July 23.
