DPP Noordin Haji drops corruption charges against 10 NYS suspects

DPP drops charges against 10 NYS suspects

Mark Mwithaga

January 7, 2019 1:29 PM

Reprieve

DPP Noordin Haji during a past media briefing

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji on Monday withdrew corruption charges against 10 suspects involved in the second National Youth Service (NYS) scandal.

The DPP directed that in the event of emergence of new evidence, the suspects would be rearrested.

DPP Noordin Haji during a past meeting ece-auto-gen

The move by Haji came after the case was up for hearing before Milimani Court Principal magistrate Peter Ooko who read the charges afresh to the remaining suspects.

Following the initiative by the tough talking Haji, the number of suspects facing the charges has now gone to 20 from the initial 38.

In October this year, 8 suspects were released after their charges were dropped in accordance to section 87A of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The 8 included: Clara Mbau, Christopher Malala, Josephat Njoroge, Rodgers Nzioka, Lucas Otieno, Sammy Michuki, Simon Kiiru, and Stephen Muchai.

Suspects turned to witnesses

Four of the released suspects were turned into witnesses to testify against former National Youth Service (NYS) Director-General Richard Ndubai, former Youth and Gender Affairs Principal Secretary Lilian Omollo and other suspects charged in the scandal.

Former Youth and Gender Affairs Principal Secretary Lilian Omollo Pulse Live Kenya

The prosecution team during the hearing last year, vowed to reveal how huge amounts were paid as pending bills yet they did not fit the description of a pending bill as they were slotted into the NYS stock of pending bills.

In September, it was revealed that Omollo used her children’s bank account to avert detection in the multi-billion National Youth Service corruption scandal.

Detectives involved in the investigations of the crime highlighted that Ms. Omollo at one point made a cash deposit of Sh20 million to accounts registered to Sheela Mbogo, Stephanie Mbogo, and Shalom Kamwetu.

Mark Mwithaga