EACC Rules Linturi’s Man Bruno Mugambi Linyiru Is Corrupt To Hold Public Office

It recommended that the entire tender board should be jointly charged with abuse of office and must be surcharged to refund all money lost during the tender award.

The EACC said the tender committee should be investigated for awarding Bonfide Clearing and Forwarding Ltd a contract to move geothermal rigs and other equipment in 40 lots, with each costing Sh42 million, in the Menengai drilling area within a radius of about 500 metres, bringing the total cost to Sh1.7 billion.

The six were accused of inflating the rig movement charges from Sh15 million to Sh42 million per rig, totalling Sh1.7 billion.

Supreme Court 

On January 27, 2023, the Supreme Court ordered the stalled Sh1.7 billion graft case to proceed to its conclusion.

The Director of Public Prosecutions recommended charges against company secretary Praxidis Siasi and members of the GDC tender committee in 2015 but the matter didn’t take off owing to petitions challenging the decision.

Some of them contended that the trial was grounded on non-existent offences.

The then High Court Judge Odunga barred the DPP from prosecuting the case.

He declared their prosecution unconstitutional. Aggrieved with the decision, the DPP and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission appealed.

The Court of Appeal reinstated the matter but the appellants Praxidis Namoni Saisi, Dr Peter Ayodo Omenda, Nicholas Karume Weke, Caleb Mbaye, Abraham Kipchirchir Saat, Michael Maingi Mbevi, Godwin Mwawongo, Linyuri appealed at the Supreme Court.

The apex court in ordering the case to proceed said there was nothing unpleasant in relation to the charges levelled against the appellants.

The court dismissed claims of their constitutional rights being violated after they failed to prove allegations of malice and discrimination.

“It is our considered opinion that it would be logical that the appellants let the trial commence and conclude, during which trial they may raise all the issues they have as against the law under which they are charged. If successful, it is only then that they will pursue their rights on appeal,” the court said.

AFA board advertised for the position of director general in December last year.

The board said it was seeking to replace the outgoing Director General Willis Audi.

Through a notice in local dailies, AFA called on all eligible candidates to submit their applications.

Audi was appointed the authority’s acting DG in May 2023, after Beatrice Nyamwamu exited.

Nyamwamu was an agricultural resource and policy expert and one of the few women serving in the chief executive role at State corporations in the country.

She had become the second acting director-general to exit AFA in two years.

AFA is a state corporation that regulates the crop sector in Kenya to ensure compliance with the regulatory framework, standards, and codes of practice.