7 Nyandarua County Staff Arraigned in Court Over Corruption
By Shadrack Nyakoe
Seven staff members from the Nyandarua County Government appeared before Nakuru Senior Principal Magistrate Alloys Ndege, facing sixteen counts of attempting to commit an economic crime, contrary to Section 47(A)(1) as read with Section 48(1) of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Act, 2023.
The accused: Esther Muthoni Wamuiya, Regina Wairimu Wacira, Vincent Muiruri Wambui, Sophia Wairimu Karanja, Shadrack Kanyungo Ndirangu, Timothy Ngunjiri Kiragu, and Simon Mwangi Ng’ang’a are charged with fraudulently making payments totaling Ksh 12,998,000 from public funds to six suppliers for services not rendered.
The Corruption charges include making fraudulent payments for a non-existent investment conference, fraudulent procurement practices, abuse of office, and unauthorized document creation, specifically a request for quotation.
Representing the prosecution, Counsel Louise Murunga, Angeline Chinga, and Dan Smith Mbalasi have lined up 32 witnesses.
These witnesses will detail how the companies received payments for services such as event management, printing materials, stage concepts, entertainment security, videography, live streaming, audio-visual equipment, and the hiring of tents, decorations, and seats for the purported conference.
Read also:- Three officers arrested with elephant tusk worth 2.9M
Elsewhere, The Kenya police have dropped an investigation into allegations that Worldcoin had illegally collected and transferred users’ data, according to a police document, paving the way for the cryptocurrency project to resume its operations.
Authorities suspended Worldcoin in August last year, following privacy objections over its scanning of users’ irises in exchange for a digital ID to create a new “identity and financial network”.
Worldcoin is being rolled out by Tools for Humanity, a company co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Its website says it has signed up 5.7 million users across more than 160 countries.
