Court to rule on executives’ fate in Sh400m ‘fake’ coffee tender

A court will rule on Monday next week whether two Tharaka Nithi County government officials should be arraigned over an alleged Sh400 million fake tender for renovation of coffee factories.

Prosecutors want Agriculture executive Njue Njagi and Cooperatives Chief Officer Micheni Kibati charged with negligence of official duty by failing to prevent farmers’ societies from entering into fictitious contracts.

Chuka Chief Magistrate Joyce Gandani will rule on whether the matter should have been brought to court even after the High Court barred the arrest and prosecution of the two until a thorough investigation was done.

“The court will issue a ruling on Monday next week,” said Ms Gandani.

But the lawyer representing the two, Mr Muthomi Gitari, argued that it was an act of contempt by the Magistrate Court to allow the two to be brought to court even with an existing High Court order barring such an action.

“This is a clear case of abuse of power and disregard of the rule of law,” Mr Gitari said.

He said his clients had filed a contempt of court case in the High Court against the police and the office of the chief public prosecutor in relation to their arrest and arraignment.

Ms Caroline Karanja, the main suspect in the matter, has been charged with defrauding 27 farmers’ cooperative societies in Tharaka Nithi of Sh400 million while pretending to be an official with the International Coffee Organization (ICO). She is out on bond.

She is accused of duping managers of coffee cooperative societies into signing fictitious contracts for renovating factories between April 1 and October 14, 2021.

Some of the factories affected are those of the Chogoria, Kariani, Magumoni and Ndagani cooperative societies.