NYS scandal: Omollo, Ndubai to remain behind bars

By Dzuya Walter and Stephen Letoo

Suspended PS Lillian Omollo and National Youth Service (NYS) boss Richard Ndubai will remain in police custody as they await the court’s ruling on whether they will be released on bail or not on June 6.

This was the court’s ruling on Tuesday night for all the 33 suspects despite defense lawyers arguing that their clients did not pose any risk to witnesses in the ongoing NYS corruption case.

“Our client is no longer in office she stepped aside… she cannot interfere with ongoing investigations as purportedly said by prosecution.

“If she was to influence witnesses, she would have done it from 2015,” Omollo’s legal team told the Milimani Law Court.

As the lawyers presented their cases before the court, some of the suspects seemingly overwhelmed by the prolonged session that went beyond midnight were overcome by exhaustion and fell asleep.

The magistrate and the lawyers were however not shy of burning the midnight oil and persisted with their presentations.

Opposing the Defense lawyers’ plea for bond, the Prosecution went on to claim that the suspects posed a flight risk.

Similarly they argued that the evidence gathered so far is strong and sufficient to secure conviction against all the accused persons and hence there is likelihood of them absconding if released on bail.

According to the affidavit, the accused persons are facing very serious offenses arising from various sections of the law and attract stiff sentences.

Further the court was told that the accused persons are being investigated for other fraudulent financial transactions at NYS and should remain in police custody pending hearing and determination of the case against them.

“There are compelling reasons to warrant the detention of the accused persons pending hearing and determination of their case,” the affidavit reads in part.

Chief Magistrate Douglas Ogoti who ruled on the matter at 1:55am directed that pre-trials commence on June 6 and bond ruling delivered on June 5.

This came after the Prosecution indicated that it would be ready to supply all evidence by Friday.

He further ruled that those who failed to appear in court on Tuesday present themselves at the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) by Thursday 2pm.

Earlier, Defence lawyers opposed arrest warrants against absentee suspects claiming that the Prosecutor did not summon them properly with papers and instead wanted them to rely on media reports.

The Prosecution maintained that this was not the case citing an example of one of the suspects.

“Evans Kudu availed himself before court but he was not processed….we want him to come to the DCI headquarters  for processing,” he said.

The Tuesday court session saw the 33 NYS scandal suspects charged with conspiracy to commit an economic crime to defraud over Ksh.28million, to which they all pleaded not guilty.

PS Omollo was further charged with abuse of office while Ndubai was charged with willfuly failing to comply with applicable laws on public funds.

The two also pleaded not guilty.