Garissa Governor fails to appear in court again

Garissa Governor Nathif Jama, for the second time, failed to show up in court to take plea on Wednesday in a case where he is accused of irregularly entering into a contract with the Kenya Red Cross for provision of ambulances services.

Lawyers Paul Nyaga and Cohen Amanya told the court that their client, Governor Jama, was taken ill and could not avail himself to take plea.

Garissa Chief Magistrate Margret Wachira accepted the request and pushed the plea date to June 29^th.

She, however, ruled that “the Ksh 100,000 bond issued to each of the accused by the  Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC ) still stands.”

The county government further faces allegations of incurring an expenditure of Ksh 6.24 million which had not been budgeted for.

Senior assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, John Walter Wanyonyi, did not object to the request.

Nathif and his six former procurement committee members are charged with failing to comply with the Public Finance Management Act by executing a contract with the Kenya Red Cross E-plus unlimited for provision of ambulance services to the county government.