NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 21 – Six people have been charged in connection with the alleged loss of Sh348.9 million from the Homa Bay County Government through the irregular award of a construction tender.
The six appeared before Chief Magistrate Ada Obura at a Kisii law court, where they all pleaded not guilty to multiple counts related to abuse of office, conflict of interest, and unlawful payments.
Those charged are former Homa Bay County Assembly clerk Daniel Odhiambo, Faith Odhiambo, Japhet (Patrick) Tonui, Mary Oyuka, Roseline Odhiambo, and Hartland Enterprises Limited.
Prosecutors allege that on 10 February 2022, Daniel Odhiambo abused his office by unlawfully awarding a contract to Hartland Enterprises Limited and failing to ensure the company provided a valid performance guarantee. This allegedly led to the illegal payment of Sh66,714,924 from county funds.
Patrick Tonui, a quantity surveyor, is accused of improperly conferring a benefit of Sh31,597,605 to the firm on 15 April 2021 by preparing an irregular payment certificate for a proposed office block project.
Faith Odhiambo, then acting clerk of the county assembly, is accused of facilitating the approval of Sh31,597,605 to Hartland Enterprises Limited on 24 June 2021 without a valid payment voucher and without ensuring a performance guarantee was in place.
The court also heard that the accused persons allegedly participated in transactions linked to private land intended for the project, raising conflict-of-interest concerns.
All six denied the charges.
Defence lawyers argued that the accused were not flight risks and asked the court to grant reasonable bail terms.
In her ruling, Chief Magistrate Ada Obura granted each accused cash bail of Sh5 million or a bond of Sh30 million with two sureties of a similar amount.
The case will be mentioned on 2 February.
