By Andrew Kariuki
The case against Boris Owiye Agonga, a director at Digitalent Systems Limited, continued in court with evidence from the company’s co-director Boniface Gichane Maina, who accused the defendant of transferring company vehicles into his personal name without approval from the board.
Agonga is facing charges of stealing by director contrary to Section 282 of the Penal Code, linked to the alleged unlawful acquisition of a Land Rover Discovery registration number KDL 560Z, valued at approximately Ksh 6.82 million, which prosecutors say belonged to the company.
According to the prosecution, Agonga came into possession of the vehicle through his position as a director of Digitalent Systems Limited.
While being cross-examined, Maina acknowledged that Agonga had authority to oversee company assets in his capacity as a director, but insisted that such authority did not extend to transferring ownership of company property to himself.
“He has authority to manage, yes, but not to ownership-transfer to himself. Management is for the benefit of Digitalent Systems, not for personal gain,” Maina told the court.
Maina further testified that the company board never passed any resolution permitting the transfer of company vehicles, specifically naming the Land Rover Discovery and a Nissan Sylphy as the assets in dispute.
He told the court that the company discovered the alleged change of ownership after conducting a search on the NTSA portal, which showed that the company was no longer listed as the registered owner of one of the vehicles.
“We discovered the change when we did a search on the NTSA portal and saw the company no longer appeared as the owner,” Maina testified.
During the hearing, defence counsel suggested that Agonga had been the primary user of the Land Rover Discovery for company operations and argued that the vehicles may have been included as part of a compensation arrangement.
Maina dismissed that claim.
“That is absolutely false. We have clear records of our compensation and dividends. At no point did the directors sit and agree to gift Mr. Boris two vehicles,” he told the court.
The witness also addressed the documentation allegedly used to transfer the vehicles, stating that the signatures appearing on the forms were not his.
“I saw the documents that were submitted to NTSA. They bear a signature that purports to be mine and a company stamp that is not the official one we use in the office. I did not sign those documents,” Maina testified.
The defence also suggested that the criminal case could be tied to internal disagreements within the company and possibly aimed at removing Agonga from the business.
Maina rejected that suggestion, telling the court the issue involved the alleged unlawful taking of company assets.
“This is not a business dispute. This is theft. When you take a Land Rover belonging to the company and put it in your name using a fake signature, that is a crime,” he said.
The court heard that the Land Rover Discovery was later recovered by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and is currently being held as an exhibit.
Maina added that although the vehicle has been recovered, the company still does not have access to it, while the Nissan Sylphy linked to the case has yet to be recovered.
He also informed the court that the company currently retains possession of two other vehicles, registration numbers KDA 506S and KDB 432Z.
Agonga had earlier been arrested following investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, which alleged that ownership records of company vehicles had been altered using fraudulent documentation.
The case is scheduled to resume on March 11, 2026, when the court will continue hearing the matter.
