Six Nakuru County officials have been charged alongside a private vendor over alleged procurement irregularities involving Ksh50 million set aside to purchase land for construction of a health centre.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

The accused include the Chief Officer in the Department of Lands, Housing and Physical Planning, who also served as an accounting officer, and the Acting Director of Supply Chain Management Services.

Others charged are a departmental accountant, a senior physical planner, a deputy director in the Administration department, and the vendor of the land parcel identified as LR Dundori/Lanet Block 5/894.

The six face 10 charges, including conspiracy to commit an economic crime, engaging in a project without prior planning, wilful failure to comply with procurement laws, forgery and abuse of office.

📌 What You Need to Know

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions(ODPP) alleges that the accused conspired between October 2019 and October 2020 to commit an economic crime involving Ksh50 million in public funds.

The money was tied to Tender No. NCG/DP/LHPP/05/2019/2020 for the purchase of land intended for construction of a health centre in Umoja Lanet Ward, Bahati Sub-County.

Prosecutors further allege that the project was undertaken without prior planning , contrary to requirements governing public procurement and project implementation.

The ODPP also alleges that the accused failed to comply with procurement requirements, including ensuring that funds were available before undertaking the procurement process.

Five of the accused were arraigned in court and pleaded not guilty to the charges, while the sixth suspect is expected to take plea at a later date.

The five were released on a Ksh2 million bond each with one surety of a similar amount, or a cash bail of Ksh250,000.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke