The High Court sentenced former Nairobi County Finance Officer Jimmy Kiamba and former secretary Lilian Ndegwa to 12 years in prison each for Ksh.18 million fraud.
Former senior secretary in the Department of Finance Regina Rotich and former treasury head Stephen Osiro were also sentenced for the graft.
While delivering the sentence, Justice Esther Maina stated that the trial magistrate erred in acquitting them five years ago.
However, the judge gave them the option of paying fines in order to regain their freedom.
Kiamba and Ndegwa were each fined Sh9.6 million, Osiro Ksh1.2 million, and Rotich Ksh1 million.
“I hereby order that the convicts appear before Milimani Anti-Corruption Chief Lawrence Mugambi for further proceedings on July 18, 2022,” ruled Maina.
The sentence follows the judge’s decision to overturn the lower court’s decision to acquit them of the charges due to a lack of evidence.
In her decision, Maina stated that trial magistrate Kennedy Bidali made a legal error by acquitting them despite the Prosecution’s evidence proving that they committed the economic crimes.
“Kiamba and Ndegwa violated the law governing public procurement and should not have been acquitted. As a result, I believe the magistrate erred in acquitting them when the prosecution presented overwhelming evidence of their guilt,” ruled the Judge.
The purchase of window blinds for the office of Nairobi County Chief Finance Officer in 2014 was the subject of the corruption case.
“Kiamba’s involvement in the procurement of curtain blinds is enough to sustain a conviction. It is irrelevant, as his lawyer argues, that the curtain blinds were supplied, and I also do not believe their argument that there was no procurement process in place at the county government at the time,” the judge ruled.
The court determined that there was no explanation as to why Kiamba paid Ksh 112,500.
Bidali acquitted the four senior county officials on January 11, 2018, stating that the prosecution had not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt to warrant a legal conviction.
On February 20, 2014, the four committed the corruption offenses at the city hall.
The High Court convicted them on four of the nine charges, including abuse of office, falsifying documents, and fraudulently using public funds to pay for goods that were not supplied.
The EACC had filed an appeal against the magistrate’s decision to acquit the four.
The Anti-Corruption Commission argued that the magistrate erred in fact and Law by concluding that there was a system failure in Nairobi County’s procurement process despite the lack of evidence.
The commission also claimed that the trial court relied solely on defense evidence and completely ignored prosecution evidence.
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