Keriako Tobiko wants Nock officials to be charged

From left: legendary athlete Catherine Ndereba, Team Kenya Chef de Mission Stephen arap Soi, National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) chairman Kipchoge Keino and NOC-K secretary General Francis Kanyili Paul when they appeared before National Assembly Labour and Social Welfare Committee on September 6, 2016.PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Four top National Olympic Committee of Kenya (Nock) officials should be charged with conspiring to commit crimes against Team Kenya, the Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko told a Nairobi court on Thursday.
  • Tobiko, through State prosecutor Duncan Ondimu, said the Rio Olympic Games Chief de Mission of Team Kenya Stephen arap Soi , his deputy Bernard Kabura Ekumbo, Nock Secretary General FK Paul and Nock first Vice-Chairman Pius Ochieng allegedly hatched a plot to commit fraud.

Four top National Olympic Committee of Kenya (Nock) officials should be charged with conspiring to commit crimes against Team Kenya, the Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko told a Nairobi court on Thursday.

Tobiko, through State prosecutor Duncan Ondimu, said the Rio Olympic Games Chief de Mission of Team Kenya Stephen arap Soi , his deputy Bernard Kabura Ekumbo, Nock Secretary General FK Paul and Nock first Vice-Chairman Pius Ochieng allegedly hatched a plot to commit fraud.

“I urge this court to grant me more time to consolidate all the issues levelled against the four top Nock officials before I come up with a joint charge sheet,” Ondimu told Senior Principal Magistrate at Milimani Law Courts Joyce Gandani.

The prosecutor urged the magistrate to allow the prosecution to piece together all the evidence then generate one common charge sheet against the four.

Soi, Paul and Ochieng are accused of mismanaging Team Kenya while Ekumbo is facing charges of theft of $10,500 (Sh1,050,000) and sports kits for the team.

Ekumbo has since repaid the government the Sh1,050,000, which he alleged was irregularly deposited into his account without his knowledge.

But defence lawyer Cliff Ombeta told the magistrate that he would be opposing the move by the  DPP to consolidate the cases, saying the circumstances under which each of the four were arrested, the exhibits and witnesses are different.

In the Rio Olympics fiasco, over Sh88 million is alleged to have disappeared and the government has embarked on a fact-finding mission to establish the truth in the saga.

The magistrate set the mention of the case on January 31. All the suspects are out on bond.