Garissa Governor in court over ‘illegal’ procurements

Garissa Governor, Nathif Jama, has finally appeared before the Anti-Corruption Court in Garissa County to answer to charges of flouting procurement laws after previously failing to heed two previous summons.

Appearing before Chief Magistrate, Margaret Wachira, Governor Jama and his six co-accused were faced with charges of negotiating and executing a contract valued at Ksh 52.4 million for the provision of ambulance services to the county, which is tantamount to abuse of office and irregular leasing of seven ambulances from the Kenya Red Cross.

State counsel, John Wanyonyi, who had said that the state will produce 18 witnesses agreed to supply the accused with witness statements and evidence that will be used in court as charge sheet mentions Kenya Red Cross Secretary General, Abass Gulet, as one of the witnesses lined up by the state.

The Governor’s lawyer, Ahmednassir Abdullahi, had earlier requested the court to grant bail to his client saying he was not a flight risk and would appear in court any time he was required.

The Governor and his co-accused, Abdi Sahal, Mohamed Hassan, Sofia Mohamed, Mohamed Hassan, Jawahir Keynan, and Rahma Dekow denied the charges and were released on a cash bail of Ksh 500,000 each.

Governor Nathif has termed the case as politically motivated, ill-conceived and meant to derail his political career.

Their case will be heard on two consecutive days, on 13^th and 14^th of September.