University of Nairobi (UoN) Council Chairman Prof Amukowa Anangwe and three others charged on Friday May 16 with abuse of office have been freed on bond of Sh1million with one surety of similar amount.
Prof Anangwe was also given an alternative cash bail of Sh500,000 and ordered to deposit his passport in court.
Prof Anangwe, who was arrested in Kisumu in the wee hours of Friday and flown to Nairobi, was charged alongside two council members Dr Ahmed Sheikh Abdullahi, Carren Kerubo Omwenga and Daniel Brian Ouma Okeyo, the University’s chief operations Officer.
University of Nairobi Council Chairman Prof Amukowa Anangwe (right) with (from left) Brian Ouma, Carren Omwenga and Ahmed Abdullahi at the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi on May 16, 2025.
Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation Media Group
Okeyo was separately charged with unlawful acquisition of public property to wit Sh32,459,406.15. Okeyo is alleged to have pocketed the tens of millions in salaries between March 2015 and May 8, 2025.
Prof Anangwe, Dr Abdullahi and Ms Omwenga were charged with abuse of office.
The co-accused of the former cabinet minister in the late President Daniel arap Moi’s regime were also released on similar bail terms.
Besides the bond, anti-corruption court principal magistrate Celesa Okore directed the accused to deposit their passports in document.
“You are hereby barred from visiting the offices of UoN during the pendency of the case,” Ms Okore directed.
The charge sheet indicated that on April 19,2024 at the UoN Council Chamber jointly used their offices to improperly confer a benefit to Okeyo and nullified the letter issued by former UoN VC Prof Stephen Kiama rescinding appointment of Okeyo as Acting Chief Operations Officer contrary to the judgement delivered by the Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC) on April 8 2024.
Vide that Judgement Justice Byram Ongaya of the ELRC barred the University from advertising of the position of Chief Operations Officer (COO).
The four denied the graft charges amid bitter protests that they were being discriminated against by the government.
Defence lawyers Abdirazak, Jim Akach, Emmanuel Ouma, Martina Swiga, Abdihakim Abdi Adan and Kennedy Murunga protested that the chair and the two council members Dr Abdullahi and Ms Omwenga were “being prosecuted discriminatively as the UoN Council has nine members.”
The court heard that the four committed no wrong as they did not violate the high court order of advertising for the position COO.
Also the magistrate heard in December 2024 the high court had barred the removal of the chair of council saying his term had not lapsed.
Mr Abdirazak wondered why the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has not paraded in court the PSs Dr Beatrice Inyangala (higher education), Dr Kenrick Ayot (national treasury) and council members Joel Kibe, Dr Parmain ole Narikae, Dr Sally Toroitich and the former or the acting VC Prof Margaret Jesang Hutchinson alongside the chair and the two others.
In the same vein Mr Akach told the court decision of UoN are resolved by the entire Council and “to hand pick the three amounts to selective prosecution”.
The defence lawyers told the magistrate that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Renson Ingonga had promised to charge the entire UoN Council only to end-up charging the minority who are thought to hold divergent opinion on the university.
Mr Abdirazak stated that Prof Anangwe is the whistle blower who invited EACC to probe financial mismanagement and corruption in UoN.
He submitted that it is Prof Anangwe who turned around UoN into a profit making trajectory having found it with a debt hole of Sh20billion.
“How come that the whistle blower becomes the hunted,” wondered Mr Abdirazak.
The magistrate was told that the government has spent colossal sums of money to fly Prof Anangwe from Kisumu to EACC Offices and later to court with a lot of pomp.
The prosecution had asked the court to free the suspects on stringent bail terms saying the offence is serious and attracts a harsh penalty.
The DPP through a prosecuting counsel asked the court to dismiss the application as the accused were properly before court.
But defence lawyers said the prosecution is a mockery to justice to have a minority of the council to take plea while the majority are out there.
In her ruling Ms Okore said the application to defer plea lacked merit and was capricious. She said it lacked legal threshold and dismissed it. She directed the accused to take plea.
Prof Anangwe managed to pay the cash bail of Sh500,000 and was freed from the court cells to go home.
Okeyo who was released on a cash bail of Sh3million was still held in custody by the time we were going to press but his relatives were making efforts to deposit the bond.
The magistrate had earlier been told UoN council members are not salaried and pleaded to have the accused free on reasonable bail terms. The case will mentioned on May 28, 2025 for pre-trial directions.
