Court sets free Peter Mangiti in NYS graft case

Former Devolution Principal Secretary Peter Mangiti in court. The Sh791 million National Youth Service theft case against him and 22 other suspects was dismissed on March 9, 2018. FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Hassan Noor Hassan, Adan Gedow Harakhe and others who had been accused of unlawful disposal of public funds also acquitted.
  • The court, however, found Selesio Karanja has a case to answer.

A Nairobi court on Friday acquitted former Devolution principal secretary Peter Mangiti and 23 others accused of conspiracy to steal from National Youth Service (NYS).

Also acquitted of charges of conspiracy to commit economic crime are Hassan Noor Hassan, Adan Gedow Harakhe and others who had been accused of unlawful disposal of public funds.

Chief Magistrate Kennedy Bidali, while acquitting them, said the prosecution failed to table sufficient evidence to prove that indeed there was conspiracy to commit the crime.

EVIDENCE

The magistrate said in order for a conspiracy case to be proved, there must be evidence that the accused persons indeed had a meeting, muted the idea and agreed to commit the said offense.

The court further said the witnesses who testified exonerated the accused persons instead of implicating them.

The court, however, found Selesio Karanja has a case to answer.

Mr Karanja is accused that on January 29, 2015, at NYS headquarters within Nairobi, as supply chain assistant NYS, engaged in fraudulent act in procurement by inserting the name of Dama Services Limited on the tender opening register, for the procurement of training materials in the automotive engineering faculty.

The prosecution said Dama Services had not been approved for the said tender.

The case will be mentioned on March 28.