Suspended Youth Affairs principal secretary (PS) Lillian Omollo has asked High Court to unfreeze her bank accounts so she can pay for children’s first term school fees amounting to Sh5.2 million.
Her accounts were frozen after being linked to the NYS scandal
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Omollo made the application through lawyer Stephen Ligunya, asking the court to temporarily unfreeze her assets which are held by the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) pending trial where she is accused of misappropriating money meant for the NYS projects.
Apart from school fees, the former PS says she has an outstanding mortgage which requires financing as well as another loan where she needs to pay installments of Sh150,000 per month.
Domestic workers
Omollo told the court she has three other dependents who require Sh139,800 in school fees and requires a further Sh219,000 to pay her domestic workers.
The request demonstrates the comfortable life the PS was living before Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji ordered her prosecution.
She has requested for the court to allow her access Sh150,000 as support for her parents, Sh449,000 to maintain and service her cars; and Sh360,000 to pay her house bills and cater for food.
At the time when the Asset Recovery Agency froze two of her accounts in October 2018, she had Sh33 million which the authorities believe were proceeds of corruption.
The recovery agency has used Omollo’s justification for high income to oppose her request for more cash.
ARA, through its lawyer told the court that the suspect had claimed to be a farmer in Siaya County and was still receiving half of her salary as PS – meaning she could comfortably meet her monthly expenses without withdrawing the frozen amount.
Omollo was appointed PS in 2015 after the first NYS scandal that resulted in the exit of then CS Anne Waiguru and then-PS Peter Mangiti.