NAIROBI, KENYA: Eight Indian nationals accused of colluding with senior Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) officials to steal Sh882 million have challenged their prosecution.
The businessmen are also contesting a warrant of arrest against them for failing to turn up in court when other Kebs officials, including suspended MD Charles Ongwae, were charged with conspiracy to defraud and attempted murder.
The eight, Prathap Singh, Arul Singh, Sam Prasad, Asir Prathan, Suseela Rajah, Ponmani Prasad, Ramachadran Nataarajan, Rajah Sunder and their company Madras Security Printers Ltd, are accused of conspiring to provide Kebs quality marks when they had no capacity to deliver the services.
Cheating
They are also accused of cheating by obtaining Sh882 million from Government by pretending that they were in a position to supply and deliver Kebs ISM stickers complete with traceable systems.
Through lawyer Emmanuel Wetang’ula, they argued the contract, which formed the basis of the charges, was legal and had never been overturned.
“The businessmen delivered their obligations under the contract and do not understand why a criminal prosecution has been preferred. If anyone had an issue with the contract, the law provides avenues to have it cancelled,” said Mr Wetang’ula.
He submitted that the contract for provision of stickers went through a competitive bid, including intervention by the Public Procurement and Administrative Review Board, which found the company fit to provide the services.
The lawyer said it was unlawful to charge the traders over claims that they lacked capacity to deliver when all other Government agencies tasked with monitoring procurement processes were satisfied with their abilities.
“The decision to charge them is a violation of their legitimate expectation that the contract will be protected from questions and allegations of criminality. They cannot be prosecuted over a contract that received full backing and sanity of the law,” Wetang’ula said.
On the warrant of arrests, the lawyer submitted that the businessmen were Indians, and that they were never summoned to appear in court.
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