Former Cabinet Secretary for Tourism Najib Balala has been released on a Ksh 1 million cash bail with a Ksh 5 million bond alternative following his arrest for misuse of his office.
He was charged today with abuse of office in relation to the irregular payment of Ksh 3,368,494,779.63 for the construction of Ronald Ngala Utalii College (RNUC) in Kilifi County.
A Malindi court granted similar terms to Balala’s co-accused Former Tourism Principal Secretary Leah Gwiyo and the case will be mentioned on Thursday, December 28.
The court heard that Balala and Gwiyo jointly used their offices to improperly confer a benefit to private consultants against a cabinet decision on December 13, 2010.
It is alleged that Balala and Gwiyo engaged Baseline Architects Ltd., Ujenzi Consultants, Armitech Consulting Engineering, and West Consult Engineers to offer consultancy services in the project against a cabinet decision.
Malindi Chief Magistrate Hon. James Mwaniki heard that the former CS and PS used their offices to corruptly benefit Ksh. 3,368,494,779.63 to the four firms that offered consultancy services for the design, documentation, supervision, and contract management of the Utalii College project in Kilifi.
Hon. Mwaniki issued summons to 14 other suspects to appear before the court for plea taking on December 28, 2023.
Joseph Odero, T/A West Consult Engineers managing partner, was also charged with acquiring an excess payment of Kshs. 292,467,940.69 from the Tourism Fund for consultancy services in the project.
Odero pleaded not guilty to the charge and was granted a Ksh 3 million bond with an alternative cash bail of Ksh 800,000, with the court handing him a lenient bond term due to his age and illness.
Balala’s arrest
Balala was arrested early morning by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) detectives alongside Leah Adda Gwiyo, the former Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, and Joseph Odero of West Consult Engineers. They spent the night at Kilimani police cells awaiting arraignment.
He was later flown to Mombasa and transported by road to Malindi Law Courts for arraignment today.
Following Balala’s arrest, EACC spokesperson Eric Ngumbi said the individuals were apprehended in connection to the payment of Sh 8.5 billion for the construction of Kenya Utalii College in Kilifi.
Mr. Ngumbi said,
“Investigations were undertaken by the commission regarding the payment of Sh8.5 billion by the Tourism Fund out of which Sh4 billion was paid to a company for consultancy services for the proposed Ronald Ngala Utalii College in Vipingo, Kilifi county.”
Procurement and Finance officials are also set for prosecution.
Ngumbi added,
“Upon conclusion of the investigations, EACC submitted the investigation report to the DPP, and the DPP concurred with the recommendations to apprehend and charge 16 persons,” he added.
The suspects are facing ten counts of corruption and economic crimes, including procurement fraud and misappropriation of Sh8.5 billion of public funds.
According to the EACC, the Tourism Fund illegally paid Sh8.5 billion for the setting up of a satellite Utalii College in the coast region. The Sh 8.5 billion resulted from an increase in the cost of establishing the branch from Sh1.95 billion to Sh10.4 billion.
The construction of the college in Vipingo was approved for Sh1.948 billion in a cabinet memo signed by Balala on May 22, 2007, and his finance counterpart on August 20, 2007.