Former NYS boss Ndubai, ex-PS Omollo in court as trial begins

The trial of former National Youth Service (NYS) Director-General Richard Ndubai, former Youth and Gender Principal Secretary Lilian Omollo and other suspects charged with theft of funds at NYS is set to begin on Monday, October 29.

The accused persons in the first phase of the fraud case are 37, among them Mr. Ndubai and Ms. Omollo, and the case involves theft of Ksh.225 million from the youth agency.

The 37 accused persons are charged with offences of conspiracy to commit an offence of economic crime, abuse of office, willful failure to comply with applicable procedures and guidelines relating to management of public funds.

Other charges include neglect of official duties, fraudulently making payments, breach of trust, making documents without authority, uttering false documents, false accounting, fraudulent acquisition of public property, dealing with suspect property and money laundering.

The accused persons comprise senior, middle and lower cadre government officials believed to have played key roles in the commission of the said offences.

The prosecution will be demonstrating to the court how the accused colluded and facilitated payment of Ksh.225 million to fictitious entities.

“The hearing of NYS 2 corruption case involving former PS Lilian Omollo and 36 others starts today. Through video clips, flip charts & infographics the DPP to demonstrate how accused colluded and facilitated payment of Ksh.225 to fictitious entities,” said the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions on Monday.

Trial Magistrate Douglas Ogoti will be handling the matter after he declined to recuse himself from hearing the case saying that the application filed by the accused persons was a scheme meant to delay the hearing.

Magistrate Ogoti is handling four files out of the 10 files that were opened by the prosecution.

The court consolidated the 10 files involving the scandal and categorised them into three separate cases whose hearing is set to go on until March 2019.

The hearing of the case which begins on Monday, October 29 is scheduled to go on until December 7, 2018.

Ms. Omollo, Mr. Ndumbai and about 50 other suspects are accused of defrauding the NYS department Ksh.468 million through fraudulent procurement of goods

Also Read: Huge setback for ex-Youth PS Lillian Omollo as fraud charges upheld