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KPC boss, 2 managers deny charges

Tanui, Chief Engineer Josphat Sirma and Chief Technical Manager Elias Karumi have been charged with paying Redline Limited for the installation, testing and commissioning of autotransformers, last year, on the basis of falsified documents/CORRESPONDENT

Tanui, Chief Engineer Josphat Sirma and Chief Technical Manager Elias Karumi have been charged with paying Redline Limited for the installation, testing and commissioning of autotransformers, last year, on the basis of falsified documents/CORRESPONDENT

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 19 – Suspended Kenya Pipeline Company Managing Director Charles Tanui and two other senior managers on Thursday denied authorising payment for works not done.

Tanui, Chief Engineer Josphat Sirma and Chief Technical Manager Elias Karumi have been charged with paying Redline Limited for the installation, testing and commissioning of autotransformers, last year, on the basis of falsified documents.

The Kenya Pipeline Company Chief Engineer is accused of falsifying documents that showed the works were completed when they were not done.

“On or about January 30, 2014 within Nairobi being the Chief Engineer, Instrumentation and Control Section of Kenya Pipeline with intent to deceive made a false document, namely certificate of completion certifying that works for supply, installation and commissioning of Line 2 station autotransformers (three in number) had been satisfactorily completed,” the charge sheet cites as the particulars of the offence Sirma is accused of committing.

Tanui is accused of authorising the payment of Sh28.5 million to Redline without a formal contract and thereby “wilfully” failing to comply with procurement law and abusing his office to confer a benefit on Redline.

The directors of Redline, identified as Ngatia Ndung’u, Ian Gichuhi and Judy Thuo in court documents, will be charged on November 30 for accepting payment for work they hadn’t done and thereby “fraudulently acquiring public property.”

Their plea was deferred by Senior Principal Magistrate Felix Kombo given Ndung’u and Gichuhi were absent from court.

Their lawyer informed Kombo that they had been out of town when they were informed by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission detectives that they had a court date on Thursday.

Kombo therefore issued summons and not warrants for their arrest.

He released Tanui, Sirma and Karumi on a Sh20 million bond each with a surety of a similar amount with the alternative of paying Sh700,000 in cash bail.

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“I acknowledge that the accused have so far co-operated with the investigative authorities but I’m also aware that at the time the charges against them hadn’t yet crystallised,” Kombo said by explanation of the amounts set.

Ndung’u who was present in court but didn’t answer to any charges, was released on a Sh200,000 temporary cash bail.

The five were arrested by EACC detectives on Monday before securing their release on processing, by paying Sh100,000 in cash bail each.

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