On 22 November 2018, the trial of 37 people accused in the Sh230 million National Youth Service scandal was delayed after defence lawyers said they had not been given all the prosecution material they needed.
Anti-Corruption Court Chief Magistrate Douglas Ogoti halted the hearing so both sides could compare the documents already supplied and identify what was still missing. He also directed that the statements recorded from the accused by investigators be included in the review.
Ogoti told the lawyers to reconcile the records and establish which papers had been served and which had not. He further ordered the investigating officer to swear an affidavit confirming that some of the documents the defence wanted could not be traced or supplied.
Stephen Ligunya, Migos Ogamba and Assa Nyakundi, who represented the accused, told the court that the inventory of evidence they had received did not match the prosecution’s list. They also said a letter allegedly written by the first witness to the Director of Public Prosecutions was among the missing items.
The prosecution rejected the complaint and maintained that its case was not based on the disputed material the defence was asking for.
The accused include former Youth and Gender PS Lillian Mbogo-Omollo, former NYS Director General Richard Ndubai, his former assistant Nicholas Ahere, former director Sammy Mbugua, former Finance Director Wellington Lubira and other NYS staff. Also charged are members of the Naivasha-based Ngirita family — Wambere Ngirita, Gichini Ngirita, Wambui Ngirita, Njeri Ngirita and Lucy Ngirita — who are accused of receiving millions of shillings through their companies without delivering anything to NYS.
The 37 face 82 charges, among them conspiracy to commit an economic crime, abuse of office, failure to comply with procurement rules, neglect of official duty, fraudulent making of payments, breach of trust, false accounting and making false documents.
In a separate ruling the previous week, Ogoti allowed the prosecution to rely on new evidence it said was important in showing that Phyllis Ngirita irregularly received money from NYS. He said excluding the payment vouchers and bank statements would amount to a miscarriage of justice.
The defence had opposed the move, arguing that the vouchers and bank statements should have been disclosed at the start of the trial. Ogoti dismissed that objection and said each accused would still have the chance to challenge the witnesses who relied on the records.
According to prosecutors, the payment vouchers were misplaced during document examination by investigators, while the bank statements were only obtained after the pre-trial process. The statements covered Ms Ngirita’s transactions between 13 August 2016 and 20 April, and also included specimen signatures plus two statements from KCB officials in Gilgil and Naivasha.
The hearing was set to resume the following day.
