Exclusive: 12 Kenyan MPs facing wash-wash, criminal cases in court

In the August House, approximately 12 members of parliament are facing wash wash, other scams, and criminal cases in court. They are among the long list of candidates the EACC barred from running in the August general elections, declaring them unfit to hold the office since a number of them are also fighting to stop their imprisonment following criminal charges they allegedly committed. Top on the list is Tana River Senator Danson Mungatana, who was charged alongside others with conspiracy to commit an economic crime involving electronic money transfer from the Kilifi devolved government in 2019. Senator Danson Mungatana The former Garsen Constituency lawmaker was also arrested and held in 2020 after he was implicated in a Sh 70 million fake military food supply tender. Nairobi police boss Rashid Yakub told the media after Mungatana's arrest two years ago that the woman reported to the Military Police at the Department of Defense (DoD) with tender documents, which turned out to be fake. Yakub said that the woman claimed Mungatana was accompanied by a person who identified himself as a senior military officer at the DOD and had given her the documents to help her win a Sh70-million cereal supply and building tender. "The said person requested he be given a down payment of Sh1 million, which was handed to him on July 14, 2020," said Yakub. The officers said that the woman was instructed to meet at a city hotel with the person who was pushing for the awarding of the tender. "Together with two other ladies, she went to the hotel and found a man identified as Collins Waweru together with Danson Mungatana, who was introduced as the senior person pushing for the tenders at DOD," the police boss said. Mungatana and his co-accused had allegedly requested another Sh1 million to facilitate the deal. "It was at this point that the ladies got suspicious and informed the police," Yakub said. MP Daniel Manduku Nyaribari Masaba MP Daniel Manduku (former Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) managing director) The Nyaribari MP has been in and out of court after he allegedly illegally awarded tenders that saw the Kenya Ports Authority lose Sh1.4 billion. Manduku, who left KPA in August 2020 over the corruption allegations, which have yet to be determined by a court, successfully contested and won the Nyaribari MP seat. The state claims that Manduku approved the procurement of concrete barrier works without approval and engaged a manufacturer of the barriers without planning. Nakuru MP Samuel Arama Arama, who was re-elected as a Nakuru MP on the Jubilee Party ticket in June 2022 alongside four others, was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud Ahmed Muhammad of his plot by faking registration documents. He was sentenced to a six-month prison term or a KSh 1,560,000 fine after being found guilty of conspiring to grab a piece of land. They paid the fine. MP John Waluke Sirisia MP John Waluke is fighting for his freedom from a 67-year jail term imposed on him over the Sh313 million NCPB case. Waluke and Grace Wakhungu were found guilty on June 22, 2020, by the Anti-Corruption Court after being found guilty of fraud and the illegal acquisition of Sh297 million through shady deals at the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB). The court ordered that they be imprisoned for 67 years or that Waluke pay a fine of Sh727,725,562 and Wakhungu pay Sh707,725,562 to walk to freedom. "The sentences were not excessive. They are within the law. "Conviction and sentences affirmed," Justice Esther Maina said, adding that the charges were proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Both Walukhe and Wakhungu have been out on bail since they were released on Sh10 million and Sh20 million cash bail, respectively, in September 2020 after spending three months in jail. Kimilili MP Didmus Wekesa Barasa (UDA) Kimilili MP Didmus Wekesa Barasa (UDA), who is facing imminent trial over a shooting that left his rival's aide dead, was also declared unfit to hold public office by EACC. Barasa was arraigned two years ago in Kajiado for fraudulently obtaining Sh450,000 from a Kitengela businessman, but the matter was later settled out of court. According to the watchdog, Barasa is being investigated for impersonating a Kenya Defense Forces officer. It argued that the lawmaker was misusing the title "captain" since investigations had established that he never earned it during his military service between 2007 and 2009. EACC is also investigating information that Barasa's bachelor's degree certificate might be fake. Kapsabet MP Oscar Sudi Oscar Sudi is in court defending himself following forgery allegations. The party claimed that the outspoken MP presented forged education papers to the IEBC when he sought clearance for the 2013 parliamentary election. The former school principal at Highway Secondary School, where Sudi claims to have studied, told the court that MP was not a student at the school. He added that the index that Sudi claimed belonged to another student at the institution. The state had charged him with forging the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) papers. "I can confirm that I went through the records of admission from the year he said he was at the school and that the name of Oscar Kipchumba Sudi was not appearing anywhere. Even the index number on the KCSE certificate belonged to another student," said Patrick Maritim, who was the principal of the school between 2010 and 2019 when he testified in court. Maritim said that the candidate's index number was 81, with KCSE certificate number 40006/081/2006, which the MP claimed was his. It belonged to Nicholas Otieno, who cleared school in 2007. "The MP did not sit his Kenya Certificate of Secondary School (KCSE) examination at the institution in 2006. Maritim said the index number Sudi purports to be his belonged to another student," Maritim said. The state has also accused Sudi of forging his Diploma in Business Management certificate from the Kenya Institute of Management. Embakasi North MP elects James Gakuya Embakasi North MP James Gakuya is another politician under siege after the state accused him of embezzling CDF money, fraudulent acquisition of public property, conflict of interest, conspiracy to defraud, and failure to adhere to procurement and disposal laws. The case, which started in August 2018, relates to a Sh40 million CDF project. EACC spokesman Yassin Aila told the media four years ago, after his arrest, that investigations had shown the MP used family companies that he registered to do business. "The businesses included construction works in the constituency. "He used the companies to procure and supply for the CDF, which is against the law," said Aila. Allan Chesang, MP for Trans Nzoia Chesang was charged alongside six others following the 2018 fake Sh181 million laptop tender at the Office of the Deputy President. President William Ruto was the deputy president. The state claims that the suspects defrauded the managing director of WIL Developers and Construction Limited, Johnson Mwanzia Wambua, of Ksh14 million on the pretense that he had won a tender with the Ministry of Defense. According to the state, the seven suspects offered a tender document under Ruto's office name for the supply of 2,800 laptops with the intent to defraud the public. As a result, they were also charged with forgery at the Milimani court. The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) alleges that Chesang, together with other suspects, forged several documents, including the contract documents for the tender and the signatures of former Defense Principal Secretary Torome Saitoti and Rotich K. of the Finance Department in the Department of Defense. The director of Makindu Motors, Charles Musinga, who is the victim of the said fraud, told the court that the accused, who offered the laptop tender, had a police escort and unlimited access to government offices, and there was nothing to suggest the deal was fake. Chesang and Clifford Okoth Ongugo alias Victor Wandera, Samuel Muremet Masaai, Dedan Waithaka Mwangi, David Kahi Ambuku, Elysha Onyango Oswago, and Cliff Moseti Obwogi, who are his co-accused, have denied the accusations. Others are Esther Karungo Ngotho and Boniface Kamau Macharia.

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