The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji has called for investigations into the circumstances under which documents meant for the prosecution of the case against former Kenya Power bosses went missing.
The original report on faulty transformers by Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has disappeared while in the custody of the power company.
Senior Assistant DPP Alexander Muteti told Chief Magistrate Felix Kombo that the document was crucial to the prosecution's case, and even though they had photocopies, they needed the originals to go ahead with the trial.
The Ex-Kenya Power bosses among them Ben Chumo and Ken Tarus, had been arrested over a payment for defective transformers supplied despite the power company having terminated the contract.
The utility firm ended the contract citing “delays in deliveries and also the failure of transformers in the field.”
Kenya Power later accepted the faulty transformers and paid for them as part of a compromise negotiated in an out-of-court settlement after the supplier sued.
The DPP noted that the details of the settlement were not disclosed to the courts, which the power distribution company ironically just accepted without questioning.
Investigations revealed that the public lost Ksh310 million and that the company could have easily been paid the entire Ksh408 million being the contract sum, if not for the intervention by investigators.
"Sadly, the acceptance of the transformers by KPLC was done in complete violation of procurement procedures and guidelines and (inspection) waivers were granted in the most unusual manner, thus allowing KPLC to expend public funds on goods of unmerchantable quality,” Haji noted.
Minutes of the firms' top managers revealed the company's knowledge of the financial and health implications of the defective transformers.
