A former Ministry of Education official who stole Ksh1.5 million public funds has been jailed for two-and-a-half years without the option of a fine.
Concelia Aoko Ondiek, the widow of former Ugenya MP Archbishop Steven Ondiek, had in 2016 been jailed for two years for a separate case involving theft of public funds.
Chief magistrate Lawrence Mugambi, while giving the ruling, said that Concelia was a repeat offender who deserved punitive punishment.
The magistrate found that the accused, who worked as the acting director of secondary and tertiary education, pocketed Ksh1.5 million which was supposed to facilitate the two-week needs assessment workshop for principals in Mombasa.
Ondiek was accused alongside Christine Wegesa Chacha who was ordered by the court to pay a fine of ksh1 million or serve one year in jail.
After the two-week training, about 30 officials could not properly account for the money which had been spent.
Some of the principals who attended the training told the court that they were paid Ksh1,000 for lunch and transport while others received Ksh1,600.
The magistrate also said that Ondiek tried to pass the blame to her co-accused, an attempt that backfired since the signatures on the documents did not match.
“This shows the desperation that had engulfed the 1st accused who was hell-bent on covering her crime even if it meant fixing her junior with the entire burden,” Mugambi ruled.
This is not the first time Ondiek is jailed for stealing public funds.
In 2016, the mother of two was sentenced to 2 years for stealing public funds, forgery and false accounting.
She was found guilty of filing fake receipts in June 2009 in order to steal Ksh 1.06 million meant for the purchase of stationery for a workshop for principals from the Coast. She was jailed alongside Dorothy Ndia, a former secretary at the Education ministry.
Ondiek appealed to the courts where the court reduced the sentence to 18 months and also gave her an option of paying a Ksh1.1 million fine.
She still has another case at the anti-corruption court together with other former officials in the ministry of education.
