The National Youth Service theft case was delayed on Thursday after the Director of Public Prosecutions failed to produce two payment vouchers said to have gone missing during investigations and later recovered.
Trial magistrate Douglas Ogoti adjourned the matter to December 3 after the prosecution did not hand the documents to defence lawyers, despite an earlier order for both sides to exchange the new material.
The disputed vouchers are among the records prosecutors want to rely on in the case against Catherine Wanjiku Mwai, Lucy Wambui Ngirita, Anne Ngirita, Phyllis Njeri Ngirita and Jeremiah Ngirita. The State says the group received Sh918 million without supplying goods to the NYS.
Former Public Service and Youth Affairs principal secretary Lilian Omollo and former NYS director-general Richard Ndubai are also facing the court. They are accused of theft of public funds through fictitious invoices for items such as firewood and stationery, as well as repeated payments against a single supplier invoice.
Phyllis Njeri Ngirita is separately accused of receiving Sh50 million for goods that were allegedly never delivered. The prosecution said the two vouchers were misplaced during document examination, while the bank statements were omitted by oversight.
Defence lawyers objected to the late disclosure. Migos Ogamba, who represents Mr Ndubai, said the material was new to the defence and complained that repeated court directions had not been followed.
“These documents are totally new to us. Despite repeated directives that the defence be supplied with documents the prosecution has not heeded the orders,” Mr Ndubai’s lawyer Migos Ogamba said.
Stephen Ligunya, acting for Ms Omollo, also asked the court to compel the DPP to provide all the documents in question.
The dispute over disclosure came as the prosecution sought to rely on witness statements and payment records, including material linked to Sebastian Mokua, a procurement officer at the Youth ministry.
The case was already before the court in 2018, when the missing vouchers and bank statements became part of the contested evidence list.
