Railways board boss Odinga set to face fraud charges

The chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Kenya Railways Staff Retirement Benefits Scheme is set to appear in court to answer charges of unlawful acquisition of public property.

Beryl Okumu Odinga failed to appear in court alongside three others charged with abuse of office and wilful failure to comply with the law.

Senior principle magistrate Lucy Nyambura issued the summons Tuesday following a request from state counsel Daniel Karori after Ms Odinga, who is Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s sister, failed to present herself to court.

The charges against the four were recommended by the Director of Public Prosecution Keriako Tobiko following completion of investigations into alleged misappropriation of funds at the retirement scheme.

Ms Odinga is accused of unlawfully acquiring Sh1.5 million drawn from funds set aside for purposes of providing pension and other benefits to members of the Railways Staff Retirement Benefits Scheme on various dates between March 2009 and January 2011.

Ms Odinga’s co-accused Mathews Kipchumba Tuikong, Ephantus Muriithi Githui and Caroline Nkitore Nyororo pleaded not guilty to three counts of abuse of office and wilful failure to comply with the law relating to management of Railways Staff funds.

Mr Tuikong was the Chief Executive Officer of KRSRBS before he retired last year while Mr Githui was the finance manager of the scheme.

In the first count, the two are accused of using their offices to improperly confer a benefit of Sh1.5 million to Ms Odinga to cater for her personal expenses between March 2009 and October 2010.

Ms Nyororo, the acting CEO of the benefits scheme is charged with the second count alongside Mr Githui of improperly conferring a benefit of Sh598,875 to Ms Odinga for her personal expenses between October 2010 and January 2011.

The three are further accused of jointly failing to comply with KRSRBS laws relating to management of funds by approving the payment of Sh2.1 million to cater for personal expenses incurred by the chairperson between March 2009 and January 2011.

They denied the charges and were released on a cash bail of Sh400,000 each or an alternative personal bond of Sh1 million and a surety of a similar amount. The case is scheduled for a mention on January 24 when Ms Odinga is expected to take a plea.

Investigations into misappropriation of funds from the scheme started last year following allegations of unlawful transactions including the sale of Railways pension fund properties.

This followed a suit by the retired Railways staff in October 2010 over claims that there was widespread irregular sale of the scheme’s properties in Nairobi and others spread across the country.

Three pensioners sued the board of trustees accusing them of mismanaging the scheme; failing to prepare and file annual financial statements; failing to pay monthly dues to the pensioners; and failing to convene an annual general meeting.

They claimed that the chairperson of the board, Ms Odinga, and the board members had authorised the chief executive officer to advertise for sale three houses belonging to the scheme located at Nairobi's Upper Hill area.