DPP orders arrest of Maasai Mara VC, 4 others in Sh177m graft probe
Professor Mary Walingo, who was suspended as Vice-Chancellor of Maasai Mara University in September 2019.
What you need to know:
- In a statement detailing an apparent scheme to corruptly take money from the university, Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji said there was sufficient evidence to prosecute the five people.
- The others whose arrest and prosecution Mr Haji ordered on Monday were DVCs Simon Kasaine ole Sano (Administration, Finance and Planning) and John Almadi Obere (Academic and Student Affairs), as well as Finance Officer Anaclet Biket Okumu and Prof Walingo's driver Noor Hassan Abdi.
- Prof Walingo was sent on compulsory leave in September 2019 after a media expose implicated her in an intricate corruption network said to have cost the university millions of shillings.
Maasai Mara University Vice-Chancellor Mary Walingo is among five people the DPP wants arrested over the irregular withdrawal of about Sh177 million from the institution's accounts.
In a statement detailing an apparent scheme to corruptly take money from the university, Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji said there was sufficient evidence to prosecute the five people.
The others whose arrest and prosecution Mr Haji ordered on Monday were DVCs Simon Kasaine ole Sano (Administration, Finance and Planning) and John Almadi Obere (Academic and Student Affairs), as well as Finance Officer Anaclet Biket Okumu and Prof Walingo's driver Noor Hassan Abdi.
Prof Obere was the acting DVC in charge of Academic and Student affairs between 2016 and 2019.
The allegation is that the VC ordered junior officers in the finance department to write cheques to various banks and present them to her for signing alongside DVCs or finance officers who were signatories to the university's accounts.
They did not follow due process and the cheques were based on fictitious expenditures, Mr Haji said.
"Due to the unscrupulous activities of irregular withdrawal of funds without accounting for the same, the university suffered a loss of approximately Sh177,007,754," he said.
Public interest
Prof Walingo was sent on compulsory leave in September 2019 after a media expose implicated her in an intricate corruption network said to have cost the university millions of shillings.
The matter was later investigated by the Directorate of Investigations (DCI) and the files forwarded to the DPP.
In the statement on Monday, the DPP noted that a review of the file sent by the DCI showed systematic misappropriation of funds belonging and that the case was therefore of immense public interest.
Mr Haji said that between 2016 and 2019, several cheques were used to irregularly withdraw the money from the institution's accounts for personal use.
He added that there was no justification for the withdrawals because there were no supporting documents for the expenditure.
