Kenya Power case: Court plunged into darkness during bail hearing

The bail application hearing for Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) officials was disrupted for a few minutes after the court was plunged into darkness.

The Prosecution jokingly accused the suspects of being behind the blackout.

However, in protest, the Defense vehemently objected asking the court to restrain the Prosecution from making such allegations.

KPLC has since issued a statement denying claims linking them to the incident.

“There has not been a blackout at the Milimani courts as reported by a section of the media. Our technical team has confirmed that electricity to the court is on and that the outage may have been occasioned by internal wiring,” a statement from KPLC said.

Earlier, the Defense through lawyer Danstan Omar also commented in jest that Kenyans were lucky that the accused persons were arraigned after the World Cup ended.

Before the blackout, the Prosecution through investigating officer Walter Oginga Okelo had indicated that the accused persons are likely to face more charges.

The investigations are expected to probe other tenders issued by the company.

In an affidavit, Oginga claims that there are some suspects who were awarded contracts and are still at large.

According to him, they are likely to interfere with the ongoing investigative process.

Defense lawyers were in the process of submitting their bail application pending hearing and determination of the case.

They want the officials released on bail, assuring the court that their clients do not pose a flight risk.

The 11 suspects are facing corruption charges linked to the procurement of faulty transformers, a deal that reportedly cost taxpayers a total of Ksh.310,129,743.

The other nine include Beatrice Meso (GM, Corporate Affairs & Company Secretary), Peter Mwicigi (General Manager Regional Co-ordination), Joshua Mutua (General Manager, Commercial Services), Harun Karisa (Acting General Manager, Finance),Peter Mungai Kinuthia (GM, Business Strategy), Abubakar Swaleh (GM, Human Resource & Administration), Samuel Ndirangu (GM, Information Communications Technology), Stanley Mutwiri (GM, Infrastructure Development).

Four directors of Muwa Trading Company Limited are also in the dock over the scandal.

Energy Minister Charles Keter on Monday announced the appointment of Jared Omondi Othieno as acting chief executive.

Othieno has said he is ready to take up the challenging of changing the face of Kenya Power that has been dogged by scandals.