Former Samburu governor Moses Lenolkulal faces a long prison term after being convicted of corruption, even as 40 other former and sitting county bosses fight cases involving billions of shillings.
Mr Lenolkulal spent Wednesday night in custody after being denied bail ahead of sentencing on Thursday morning.
He is the first sitting or former governor tried and convicted for corruption. The Director of Public Prosecutions unsuccessfully tried to withdraw the case.
Mr Lenolkulal was convicted of corruptly receiving more than Sh84 million from the county government for the supply of fuel and oil products using proxies.
He then used the proceeds of corruption to buy four prime properties that have since been seized by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
Chief Magistrate Thomas Nzioki said the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Lenolkulal acted in conflict of interest and used businessman Hesbon Ndathi as a proxy to continue trading with the Samburu devolved government that he led from 2013 and 2022.
The court established that of the Sh80 million paid to Mr Lenolkulal on account of supplying fuel to the county, he paid Sh60 million to a John Keen as consideration for property in Karen.
The former county boss was found guilty of using his company, Oryx Service Station, to supply fuel to Samburu County Government.
The conviction is a warning shot to current and former county bosses, whose corruption cases are at different stages.
EACC said more than 40 former and sitting governors face corruption cases of amounts totalling around Sh100 billion.
Some of the cases are still at investigation level, while others have been forwarded to Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Renson Ingonga to prefer charges. Some cases are ongoing.
Former Samburu County Governor Moses Lenolkulal (left) with his co-accused at the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court on August 28, 2024.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
Former governors accused of corruption include Mr Daniel Waithaka (Nyandarua), Mr Mwangi wa Iria (Murang’a), Mr Ferdinand Waititu (Kiambu), Mr Evans Kidero (Nairobi), Mr Sospeter Ojaamong (Busia) and Mr Zachary Okoth Obado (Migori).
Cases of misappropriation of public money involving former Marsabit governor Ukur Yatani and Mr Wycliffe Oparanya (Kakamega) are not in court yet.
Mr Oparanya’s case recently triggered a dispute between EACC and the DPP after he was appointed the Cooperatives and SMEs Cabinet Secretary.
EACC insists that there is enough evidence to sustain charges of conflict of interest and money laundering against the minister but Mr Ingonga is of the view that it would be an uphill task to secure conviction for lack of evidence.
The DPP has since dropped the charges, to the chagrin of the anti-corruption agency.
Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki, who has also been facing a Sh35 million corruption case, had his charges dropped by the DPP on August 6, 2024 for lack of sufficient evidence.
EACC had told the court that the withdrawal was unmerited since the governor and his co-accused did not provide new evidence to counter its findings.
Mr Muthomi had been sued alongside his wife and others for procurement fraud involving Sh35 million.
The DPP also attempted to withdraw Mr Lenolkulal’s charges midstream, but the commission opposed the campaign at court.
The case against the former Migori governor was filed in 2021, following investigations into suspicious payments to multiple companies totalling Sh1.98 billion, according to the EACC.
In June this year, Mr Obado and the commission signed an agreement that saw him forfeit vehicles, a house in Loresho, Nairobi, and other properties whose total value was Sh235 million.
The money, the commission said, was wired to their bank accounts or used to acquire properties.
EACC said the case was a clear scheme of money laundering as some of the accused people were used as conduits to get tenders at the Migori devolved government.
Former Migori Governor Okoth Obado at Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi on July 9, 2024.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
They reportedly used the companies in question, with the money eventually being channelled back to Mr Obado through his children.
Apart from Mr Obado and his children, the other accused are Mr Jared Peter Odoyo Oluoch Kwaga, Ms Christine Akinyi Ochola, Mr Joram Opala, Mr Patroba Ochanda, Ms Peninah Auma and Ms Carolyne Anyango Ochola.
The commission, through lead investigator Robert Ronoh, said it found important evidence in Mr Obado’s bedroom and that of his son.
Among the files produced in court were those from the Central Bank of Kenya, KCB Bank, Cooperative Bank, Kenya Power and a number of companies that the commission said were involved in the scheme. Also found were documents on properties in upmarket estates of Nairobi.
Mr Waititu, his wife Susan Wangari and others have also been taken to court over a Sh588 million road tender.
Chief Magistrate Thomas Nzioki said the 32 prosecution witnesses implicated the former governor in the fraud.
Mr Waititu was arraigned for fraud, conflict of interest, dealing in suspicious property, money laundering and abuse of office on July 19, 2019.
Documents submitted in court showed that Saika Two Estate Developers Ltd, a company owned by Mr Waititu and his wife, received more than Sh25 million from Testimony Enterprises Ltd Contractor, a firm irregularly awarded a tender by the devolved government of Kiambu to build and repair roads.
Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu testifies during cross-examination at the Milimani Law Courts on August 27, 2024.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
The commission is also seeking to recover almost Sh1.9 billion in some unexplained assets from the former Kabete MP amassed between 2017 and 2020 while he was the governor of Kiambu.
Early in May, Mr Yatani failed to stop proceedings against him by the EACC over reports of embezzlement public funds amounting to Sh1.2 billion during his term as Marsabit governor.
EACC had obtained search warrants from a court on April 22 and later raided Mr Yatani’s houses in Marsabit and Karen as well as his offices.
The commission is investigating claims of embezzlement of public funds, procurement irregularities and irregular award of tenders by the county government of Marsabit leading to the loss of Sh1.2 billion.
Mr Iria is accused of procurement fraud amounting to Sh140 million in the 2015/16 financial year. He pleaded not guilty on being taken to court in April.
In August last year, Mr Oparanya and his three wives were interrogated at the EACC offices after detectives raided their houses.
According to EACC, Mr Oparanya embezzled in excess of Sh1.3 billion from the Kakamega devolved government during his tenure as governor.
The EACC and DPP have differed on proceeding with the trial. The DPP recently withdrew the case, citing insufficient evidence.
The commission, however, says there is enough evidence that can lead to the conviction of the former county boss.
According to the commission’s quarterly report of August 11, 2023, it submitted files to the DPP recommending the prosecution of current Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa and former Kitui governor Charity Ngilu on corruption charges.
The commission said it submitted Ms Ngilu’s investigation file to the DPP for prosecution, adding that she misappropriated funds belonging to the Kitui devolved government.
Mr Ojaamong has been battling a Sh8 million corruption case since 2018. He and with his co-accused have been charged with conspiracy to commit economic crimes.
The former Busia governor is separately charged with abuse of office and engaging in a project without prior planning.
He was charged with abuse of office and economic crimes, with the prosecution saying he presided over irregular procurement of a waste management feasibility project in Busia County during the 2013/14 financial year.
Dr Kidero has been battling to stop several criminal and civil cases against him, arising from transactions during his 2013 to 2017 tenure at City Hall.
A court was told that the former Nairobi governor fraudulently received Sh14 million in a Sh213 million corruption scheme in 2014 and another involving Sh68 million.
In the Sh213 million matter, the prosecution said Mr Kidero conspired to commit fraud, which reportedly led to the loss of the amount at City Hall between January 16, 2014 and January 25, 2016.
The former governor and others are charged with conspiring to commit corruption by authorising payments to several companies that did not offer any services.
Former Nairobi governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko at the Milimani Law Court over the Sh357 million graft case against him and 16 others, on February 7, 2024.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
Other charges are conspiracy to commit corruption, abuse of office, fraudulent acquisition of public property, dealing with suspect property and unlawful failure to pay tax to a public agency.
The commission is also seeking to recover Sh68 million that was reportedly stolen in a scheme orchestrated to defraud the county government of Nairobi for payment of fees in a case filed by a phantom company against City Hall.
Mr Kidero’s successor, Mike Mbuvi Sonko, has been in and out of the corridors of justice since 2019 after being charged with embezzling Sh357 million from Nairobi County government through dubious contracts.
With 16 others, the former governor faced several charges, including conspiracy to commit corruption, wilful failure to comply with laws relating to procurement, unlawful acquisition of public property, conflict of interest as well as money laundering.
In February this year, the former Nairobi county boss was acquitted by Milimani Magistrate Eunice Nyutu who said the evidence given by the prosecution was not enough to warrant any punishment.
The magistrate said the evidence presented was weak and could not be relied on to convict Mr Sonko and his fellow accused.
“After carefully considering the testimony of six witnesses, the evidence adduced is inadequate to sustain the charges levelled against the accused,” she said.
