Former KPLC Company Secretary Beatrice Meso, Former Head Supply Chain John Ombui Charged

Former Kenya Power (KP) company secretary Beatrice Meso and former head of supply chain John Ombui were Tuesday arraigned in court over the disappearance of crucial documents that were to be used in the prosecution of senior managers in a graft case. But Ms Meso, Mr Ombui and Ms Ruth Oyile were not required to plead to the charges after the police asked the court for more time to investigate the three. The prosecution told the court that the three were arrested on Monday and they needed at least seven days to conduct investigations. Senior principal magistrate Kennedy Cheruiyot, however, rejected the application to detain the suspects as the police complete investigations. According to the magistrate, there was nothing compelling to continue holding the three and in his view, the police needed the former KP employees to accompany them to their former offices, to retrieve some documents. “I am of the considered view that there are no compelling reasons to deny the suspects bond,” he said, ruling that they deposit a cash bail of Sh300,000 each, to secure their release. The court warned that their bail will be cancelled if they are found to have interfered with the investigations. Mr Cheruiyot ordered the suspects to report to the investigating officer today and tomorrow for purposes of visiting KP offices in Nairobi. They will also accompany the investigating officer to the same office on Monday and Wednesday next week. According to the prosecution, the three suspects might have caused the disappearance of crucial documents including tender documents, which were used in the procurement of transformers that turned out to be faulty. They will be charged with conspiracy to defeat justice. Through lawyers Migos Ogamba and Roger Sagana, they were not opposed to deferment of the plea but were opposed to their detention. Mr Ogamba said the documents existed when Ms Meso and Mr Ombui and 14 others suspects were charged on July 16. But the prosecution said they suspect the documents went missing between the period the suspects were arrested and charged. The case will be mentioned on November 1.