Former Samburu Governor Moses Lenolkulal has been convicted of corruptly pocketing more than Sh83 million from the devolved unit for supply of fuel and oil products by using proxies.
Mr Lenolkulal becomes the first former Governor to be convicted of corruption since the inception of Devolution in 2013 for the offences he and 10 others committed between March 2013 and March 2019.
He was convicted alongside former county secretary Stephen Letinina and former chief officers Daniel Nakuo, Josephine Lenasalia, Reuben Lemunyete and Milton Lenolngenje. Others were Geoffrey Kitewan, Paul Lolmingan, Hesbon Wachira, Lilian Balanga and Bernard Lesurmat.
They were all found guilty of conflict of interest, abuse of office and improperly conferring public funds to the governor, their former boss, for the supply of fuel from his Oryx Service Station.
Chief Magistrate Thomas Nzioki found that the former governor acted in conflict of interest and used businessman Hesbon Ndathi as a proxy to continue trading with the county government he led.
"I arrive at the conclusion that the prosecution has proven without reasonable doubt that the accused persons are guilty," he said Wednesday.
Ex-Samburu Governor Moses Lenolkulal found guilty of fraud
The magistrate found that the county officers lied to the court on oath that they did not know that Oryx Service Station was owned by the former governor.
To cover up his actions, Mr Lenoolkulal handed over the operations of his petrol station to Mr Ndathi, who was also his landlord at Milimani Estate in Maralal.
Mr Nzioki said there was a clear intention to hide Mr Lenoolkulal’s intentions and actions through the picking of Mr Ndathi to run the show— supplying oil, filing documents, and operating the station's Kenya Commercial Bank account in Maralal.
'A businessman trading with the county he runs'
The magistrate said the county continued to lose money through paying the governor who was “a businessman trading with the government he was heading.”
In his bid to hide his identity, Mr Lenoolkulal, by a letter to the county in May 2015, purported to declare his interest in the supply of goods to the devolved unit. The court observed that the document by the former governor was a mockery to the law.
He recommended that Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission follow up the issue and probe the chief officers of Samburu County who have continued to siphon public funds under the disguise of persons declaring conflict of interest.
“The letter of Lenolkulal amounts to a mockery and a cheat to the law. The governor colluded to continue trading with the Samburu County government while knowing he was compromising the law,” the court said.
Mr Lenolkulal was in 2019 charged with abuse of office and graft-related counts before the Milimani anti-corruption magistrate court. He was accused of using his company, Oryx, to supply petrol and diesel to the county government.
He said investigative agencies ought to have considered his declaration before proceeding to charge him.
“The prosecution did not undertake adequate time to study the details regarding this case. We still believe it was a wrongful prosecution,” Mr Lenolkulal said in his testimony.
“I have never benefited from any funds from Samburu County Covernment paid through or otherwise transacted through Oryx service station.”
The defence had requested that the accused persons be released on bail pending sentencing, but the court decided in favour of the prosecution which had asked Mr Nzioki not to consider it.
"I do not find it appropriate to accord the accused persons bail. While I appreciate their good behaviour in court, I quash that request," he said.
