MCA, former senior Garissa County officials charged over alleged Sh51.4 million fraud scheme

On Monday, February 23, The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions charged a Member of the County Assembly and two former senior officials from the Garissa County Government over the suspected loss of more than Sh51 million in public funds.

Bambala MCA Abdi Ibrahim Daar appeared in court alongside former Director of Accounting Services Mohamud Dubow Korane and former Senior Principal Economist Yussuf Bethe Ali, as well as Qorjarey Enterprise and General Supplies Limited.

The group was presented before Principal Magistrate Jackson Omwange to answer to multiple corruption-related charges.

Prosecutors allege the accused were involved in a scheme that led to the irregular payment of Sh51,495,253 for emergency food supplies, water trucking services and office furniture that investigators say were never delivered to the county.

According to the prosecution, the alleged offences span the period between September 2021 and July 2022. The court was told that key transactions occurred between April and June 2022, when the accused are said to have facilitated the transfer of the funds to the company at the centre of the case.

Mr Korane is accused of using his position to authorise several payments during that period and is further alleged to have falsified payment vouchers on multiple dates in 2022.

Mr Ali, prosecutors said, played a role by generating invoices within the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), actions that allegedly enabled the disputed payments to proceed.

Meanwhile, Mr Daar is accused of participating in the wider conspiracy, including presenting allegedly forged payment documents to commercial banks between April and July 2022 in support of the transactions under investigation.

In court, prosecution counsel Evans Kazungu urged the magistrate to impose stringent bond conditions, pointing to the seriousness of the allegations and the amount of public money involved.

The defence challenged the proposed terms, describing them as excessive.

The court ultimately granted each accused a bond of Sh5 million with one surety or an alternative cash bail of Sh2 million, reducing earlier bond terms.