By Andrew Kariuki
The prosecution has applied to close its case against former Embakasi East parliamentary aspirant Francis Mureithi Wambugu and businessman Francis Mwaura after two key witnesses testified in a Ksh320 million fraud trial linked to an alleged fake supply tender at the Department of Defence (DoD).
The application was made on the 17th after witnesses Bonaventure and Josias Mugendi Njahi gave evidence before Milimani Magistrate Robinson Ondieki, describing how the two accused allegedly defrauded an Eritrean national by falsely claiming they could facilitate the supply of foodstuffs to the DoD.
Prosecutors told the court they wished to formally close their case after the witnesses testified.
The charges arise from a complaint filed five years ago by Haile Menkerios, a retired United Nations diplomat, who accused Mureithi and Mwaura of swindling him out of Ksh320 million after promising to secure a lucrative food supply contract at the DoD headquarters.
Earlier in the proceedings, witness Abbay Abeba told the court that the two accused introduced themselves to her as directors of a company and persuaded her to part with more than USD 200,000 through cash payments and bank transfers.
She testified that the money was never refunded.
Abbay said the two signed the agreement and were introduced to her by a man identified as Hussein Osman.
She added that she had bank statements and signed documents to support her claims, which she would produce in court.
Abbay further told the court that some of the funds were sent through her lawyer for the alleged supply of items, including Seramix, to the Ministry of Defence, a supply that never took place.
The court also heard testimony from advocate Julius Rotich, who said that in July 2020 he was summoned to the Parklands offices of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
Rotich told the court that detectives showed him several memoranda of understanding he had drafted on instructions from Francis Mwaura in his capacity as an advocate of the High Court.
He said the documents involved Doc Find Limited and, in some instances, Wina Trading Limited.
Rotich testified that the memoranda related to the supply of foodstuffs to the Department of Defence and that he was led to believe at the time that Doc Find Limited had already been awarded the contract.
The memoranda were dated April 27, 2016.
According to the prosecution, Mureithi, through his company Doc Find Limited, together with several proxy companies, received a total of Sh320 million from Menkerios.
The other companies named in the case include Wina Trading Limited, New Research Path Company, Hammond Agencies and Sembel Trading.
Court records indicate that the money was wired to the companies’ accounts on various dates between April 29 and November 3, 2016.
Menkerios was, at the time, a retired Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union in Addis Ababa.
With the prosecution now seeking to close its case, the court is expected to make a ruling on 31, December 2025.
