This archive report was first published on 16 July 2020.
On July 16, 2020, Magistrate Douglas Ogoti released former Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) Managing Director Charles Kiprotich Tanui and two other senior managers on a Ksh.700,000 cash bail each after they denied abuse of office and fraud charges.
The three suspects, including Elias Maina Karumi (Former Chief Manager-Technical) and Josphat Kipkoech Sirma (Former Chief Electrical Engineer), appeared before Magistrate Ogoti on Thursday.
According to the court, Tanui was charged with failing to comply with the law relating to procurement by authorizing payment of Euros 261,070 (Ksh.31,987,584) to Redline Limited for three autotransformers on February 18, 2014.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) had previously stated that these payments to Redline Limited were made using false documents and that the autotransformers were never installed, tested or commissioned as per the contract agreement.
Magistrate Ogoti set the pre-trial hearing for August 3, 2020 and directed the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) to disclose evidence in the case by Friday.
The suspects were also ordered to deposit their passports and warned not to approach witnesses in the case otherwise their bail would be cancelled.
