High Court Releases KPLC Bosses on Ksh1M Bond

The High Court on Tuesday released current and former Kenya Power managers accused of a litany of economic crimes on a Ksh1 million bond.

The suspects were further ordered to deposit their travel documents in court and were denied access to all KPLC installations.

In addition, they were directed to check in with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) every two weeks.

The judge also directed the suspects not to approach any witnesses in the case where they are accused of orchestrating the supply of faulty transformers worth Sh4.5 Billion.

The prosecution had strongly opposed the suspects' release on bail asserting that they were flight risks and could interfere with witnesses.

[caption caption="Kenya Power offices in Nairobi"][/caption]

Among them are former Kenya Power Managing Director Ben Chumo and his successor Ken Tarus alongside 12 others.

Charges levelled against them include abuse of office, willful failure to comply with procurement laws, conspiracy to commit economic crimes, procurement & supply of faulty transformers.

“Whereas it is regrettable the decision to charge herein will affect most of the KPLC top management, this action is necessary and in public interest to combat and deter corrupt activities within the organisation,” stated Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji when announcing the move to charge the officials.

“The company embarked on procurement and deliveries of transformers and in the course of the transactions, issues arose about massive failure rate of the transformers and also in delays in the delivery of the gadgets” he added.

There had been drama in the courtroom on Tuesday when a power outage occurred forcing the judge to adjourn the bail/bond submissions.

[caption caption="DPP Noordin Haji"][/caption]

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