Two former Isiolo County Chief Officers arraigned for procurement fraud
17:12:2024: The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has arrested and arraigned two former Isiolo County Chief Officers for failure to comply with procurement laws and abuse of office in the irregular award of a tender worth Kes163.4 million for the supply of car hire and transport services to Debasiti Contractors and Supplies Limited.
Giro Liban and Kenneth Turibu Maorwe were charged yesterday, December 16th, 2024 before Chief Magistrate Lucy Mutai. They pleaded not guilty to all the eight counts of willful failure to comply with the procurement law contrary to Section 45(2)(b) as read with Section 48 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act No. 3 of 2003, and four counts of abuse of office contrary to Section 46 as read with Section 48 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act No. 3 of 2023.
EACC commenced investigations into the matter after receiving allegations that the County Government of Isiolo was in the process of making a fraudulent payment of approximately Kes163,377,754 to various suppliers for goods not delivered.
Investigations established that the County Government contracted Dabasiti Contractors and Suppliers Ltd to supply food items and hire transport services. The two procurement processes with the Office of the Governor as the user department were commenced without a procurement plan and budget.
Further investigations established that, despite several demands, the County failed to pay the Contractor Kes8.4 million for the transport services and Kes17 million for the relief food. The contractor sued the County for the outstanding amounts and subsequently obtained summary judgment for the amounts owed.
Investigations also established that the County engaged the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) and the Pending Bills Verification Task Force Committee (PBVC) to validate the bills it owed. The OAG and PBVC, in their respective reports, classified the contractor’s debt as an eligible pending bill and recommended payment. The County and the contractor entered into a consent for payment of the outstanding sums. The County has since settled the bills.
On 22nd July 2024, EACC compiled and forwarded a report to the DPP with recommendations to charge the two officials. Through a letter dated 4th November 2024, the DPP concurred.
The Court released them on Kes1 million cash bail each and bonds of a similar amount. The case, whose hearing has been set for February 26 and 27, 2025, will be mentioned next week on December 23, 2024, for directions.
