Moses Njue's college offered course without approval, court told

A college owned by former chief pathologist Moses Njue taught the medical science and laboratory course without being inspected and approved by government agencies, a Nyeri court heard Monday.

Mr Alfred Mwanzia, an investigator with the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority (Tveta), said they did not inspect King's Medical College between October 2016 and January 2018.

Mr Mwanzia also told Senior Principal Magistrate Phillip Mutua that the school was not supposed to teach the course since it had not been approved by the Kenya Medical Laboratory Technicians and Technologists Board (KMLTTB).

ACCREDITATION

The witness testified that Mr Njue applied for accreditation by Tveta in 2016 but that KMLTTB officers raided the school and suspended the course before Tveta officers did their inspection tour.

“The college cannot offer the course without the approval of the regulator, which is the KMLTTB. Every course is licensed individually. Tveta deferred licensing until the board delivers its report,” the investigator told the court.

“Kings college had done its job of applying for accreditation but Tveta delayed the inspection. The college was operating under the certification by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology before the TVET Act of 2013 came to place,” added the witness.

The witness said, however, that Tveta inspected the school on May 30, 2018, and on September 6 reported that it had complied with all training requirements.

MANAGEMENT

Mr Mwanzia further said that on February 1, 2018, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) wrote to Tveta seeking information on the directors and managers of the college.

The DCI also wanted to know the academic programmes offered at the college, its facilities, faculties and tutors, he said.

The investigator told the DCI that, according to records at Tveta, the manager of the institution was Lemuel Muriithi and that directors included Mr Muriithi, Mr Njue and his wife Lucy Kanyiri and Amasha Njue.

Mr Mwanzia testified in the case in which Dr Njue, his wife, his son Mr Muriithi and student Evans Nyagaka are charged with operating an illegal college and assaulting a police officer.

DEFENCE

Dr Njue, through lawyer John Abwour, disputed the board’s move to suspend the course.

The lawyer told the court that the investigator wrote to the college on January 24, 2017 in response to the accreditation application, indicating that it had met all requirements for licensing by the board.

The lawyer also told the court that the Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) on February 7 approved the college as an examination centre for medical laboratory courses.

The hearing was adjourned until April 15.