A Court of Appeal in Nairobi on Friday, July 7, upheld a sentence given to four government employees involved in the illicit transfer of Ksh75 million.
Justice Agnes Murgor established that one of the accused doctored board minutes to approve the transfer of the said funds to a company that did not supply the procured goods.
The main suspect in the scam was also said to have connived with three other staff to circumvent procurement guidelines before approving the transfer of funds.
School Equipment Production Unit (SEPU), a semi-autonomous government agency under the Ministry of Education, flagged the illegal transfer of funds in 2015 and filed a case to recover the money.
19 witnesses confirmed that the four charged persons collaborated in orchestrating the illegal transfer of Ksh75 million without following procurement laws.
"We have noted that the minutes of the meeting which was said to have sanctioned the procurement process were subsequently doctored to suggest that the Board had authorized the 1st appellant to single source the equipment,"
"Although the 1st appellant insisted that the minutes were genuine, the three members of the Board who attended the meeting disowned the minutes," the verdict read by Justice Murgor stated in part.
"Further, as long as the contract between SEPU and the equipment supply company was anchored on falsified minutes of the Board of Directors meeting, it was fraudulent, illegal and invalid. Accordingly, the appellants cannot argue that the payments were made pursuant to a legal contract," the judge added.
She thus upheld the judgement delivered by the High Court, where each accused person was sentenced to pay a fine of Ksh800,000 or, in default, serve two years imprisonment.
The SEPU employee responsible for engineering and doctoring the minutes received an additional 12-month prison sentence in addition to the fine.
While reading the judgment, Justice Murgor indicated that the charged individuals violated the procurement laws and transferred funds for goods not supplied.
"We agree with the findings of the two courts below, which findings were concurrent that the appellants violated the statutory duty bestowed on them.
"The charges laid against them were clear and unambiguous, contrary to what the appellants claimed, and they were succinctly proved to the required standard," Justice Murgor dismissed their appeal.
While appealing the case, the quartet challenged the High Court ruling, claiming it was harsh. They thus wanted the Court of Appeal to quash the charges levelled against them.
The defense lawyers argued that the minutes were legitimate and that they followed the prescribed procurement processes contrary to the allegations. The four also added that the procured goods were to be delivered later.
However, they failed to substantiate their claims at the Court of Appeal.
