54 due in court in first phase of NYS probe

Fifty four suspects will be charged Tuesday over the National Youth Service scandal.

Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji says the current phase of investigations involves the loss of Ksh 468 million but detectives are pursuing other suspect payments said to have cost the taxpayer Ksh 9 billion.

Haji says 40 of those expected in court are civil servants while the other 14 are business people who own or work in companies that received the funds from NYS through fictitious payments without supplying anything.

Haji told a news conference Monday he was satisfied with the evidence gathered by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to nail the suspects so far questioned over the scandal.

Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs Ministry, Lilian Omollo, and NYS Director General Richard Ndubai are among officials to face charges in court after their arrest Monday.

Others are procurement and finance officials as well directors of 10 companies that received fictitious payments from the National Youth Service, with the DPP now appealing for others to surrender.

Omollo, who stepped down recently to pave way for investigations, arrived at the DCI Headquarters accompanied by three lawyers and her husband.

Others in police custody include Assistant Director General Sam Michuki and top finance and procurement officials whose houses were raided at dawn.

Omollo on Friday refuted claims that the monies were lost even as police said they had unearthed mystery payments to dubious suppliers.

Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee, Omollo shocked MPs when she stated that the institution had been cleared of any wrong-doing in a report submitted during the period under review.

The PS had a hard time convincing the MPs’ committee that all is well at NYS which has been under sharp focus with mega scandals since 2016.