PS Lilian Mbogo Apologizes to DCI Kinoti

Embattled Public Service and Youth Principal Secretary (PS) Lillian Mbogo Omollo on Friday issued a public apology to Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss George Kinoti.

The PS had played down the unravelling National Youth Service (NYS) scandal terming reports by the investigative agencies led by the office of the DCI as exaggerated.

In a memo to her boss, Cabinet Secretary (CS) Margaret Kobia, Mbogo had claimed that the amount under investigation was Ksh90 million and not Ksh9 billion as indicated by the DCI.

[caption caption="PS Lillian Mbogo Omollo with President Uhuru"][/caption]

But as DCI Kinoti closed in on the culprits in the scandal, the PS tabled a written apology to the investigative agencies probing the matter.

A letter presented to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) before which she appeared for grilling reads in part: "Ladies and gentlemen, I take this opportunity to offer my profound apology to investigative agencies.

The PS indicated that she was sorry over incidences: "where mine and my team's words, actions or inaction may have come off as an accusation against any of them or even implicitly looked like acts of noncompliance."

PS Mbogo's apology came hours after reports indicated that DCI Kinoti was expediting the arrests and prosecution of senior officials suspected to have choreographed the NYS scandal.

The DCI boss on Thursday met with Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji to review statements recorded by 40 individuals suspected to have been involved in the fresh scandal.

During the meeting held at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters along Kiambu Road, DCI Kinoti and DPP Haji scrutinised evidence gathered by detectives investigating the case.

 

[caption caption="PS Lillian Mbogo before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC)"][/caption]

PS Mbogo, however, told the MPs grilling her that it was quite unlikely that Ksh9 billion had been lost in the scandal as reported while maintaining that the Auditor General would have easily noted any glaring abnormalities.

Her remarks angered some of the MPs who sought an explanation over what they termed as sanitizing the scandal whereas witnesses had already recorded statements damning NYS officials.

[caption caption="PS Lillian Mbogo's apology"][/caption]

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