Edward Ouko vindicated of corruption, his deputy to be charged - DPP

juma chrispinus

February 4, 2017 9:36 AM

Earlier, the duo had been investigated and found to have flawed the procurement laws at the Auditor General's office

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) has cleared Auditor General Edward Ouko and has instead recommended prosecution of his deputy Stephen Kinuthia over fraud and corruption.

Earlier, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) had recommended that Ouko be charged with abuse of office and for engaging in irregular procurement of audit vault software without prior planning, leading to a misuse of funds at the office.

For his deputy, Stephen Kinuthia, EACC had also recommended a charge be pressed against him for what it termed as “abuse of office as the officer willfully failed to comply with the law relating to procurement, acquisition of proceeds of crime and dealing with suspect property.”

A one Kinuthia is also facing charges for corruptly giving a benefit of Sh500, 000 to Charles Gichobi (sales executive of Oracle) and acquisition of proceeds of crime (Sh27 million), a local daily reports.

The EACC investigations were triggered by a letter from Permanent Secretary National Treasury dated 8th April 2014 forwarding anonymous complaints raising several allegations against the office of the Auditor General.

In the recent developments, a non-governmental organisation, International Policy Group, had petitioned the National Assembly, demanding a quick probe into the allegations of misuse of funds at the office of the Auditor-General Edward Ouko.

The conglomerate had already recommended an immediate removal of the officer from the office, citing a flawed process of acquiring a Sh100 million audit software. Auditor general’s removal from office, however, can only be effected through a tribunal constituted by the parliament.

The vindication of Ouko by the office of the DPP comes even after the group claimed a cold treat from the Tobiko’s office.

juma chrispinus