Former West Pokot County government officials charged for Sh296m bursary heist
Three former senior officials of the West Pokot County government were yesterday charged with 27 counts for the theft of Sh296 million bursary funds during former Governor John Lonyangapuo’s regime.
The three—former education chief officer Mary Ngoriakes, former county director of bursary Mathew Arusio and former assistant county director of bursary Francil Tikol—denied the charges and will be detained for seven days pending a ruling on their bond application.
The accused made an application to be released on bond through their lawyer Peter Wanyama. The prosecution through North Rift Director of Public Prosecution Anthony Fedha did not object to their release on bond but urged Chief Magistrate Dennis Mikoyan to release them on strict bond terms since the amount of public funds involved was huge.
The suspects were arrested by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) detectives after the commission completed investigations into the matter.
The court directed the fourth accused suspect, Simon Kachapi Kodumok, a former chief officer for education, to present himself in court on Tuesday next week to take plea, failure to which the court will issue a warrant of arrest.
Lawyer Kevin Ondaka informed the court that Mr Kodumuk could not make it to court for plea-taking due to illness.
“The first accused person is incapacitated and is currently admitted in a hospital where he is recuperating and once he recovers, I shall ensure that he avails himself in court,” said Mr Ondaka.
EACC Spokesperson Eric Ngumbi said in a statement: “The commission commenced investigations upon receipt of a complaint that senior officials in West Pokot County Government hatched and executed a fraudulent scheme leading to embezzlement of Kes212 million from the County Bursary, Education and Infrastructure Fund. However, the Commission’s investigations established that the embezzled amount was Kes296 million, which had been set aside for the provision of bursary to support needy students in the county.”
Former West Pokot Chief Officer of Education Mary Ngoriakes (left), former County Director of Bursary Mathew Arusio and former Assistant County Director of Bursary Francis Tikoi at an Eldoret court on 24 September where they were charged with conspiracy to commit economic crimes to the tune of Sh296 million.
The money was allegedly embezzled during the financial years 2017/2018 and 2021/2022.
The arrest of the two suspects and the hunt for the other two came after in-depth investigations by EACC detectives.
Investigations by EACC have revealed that the officials siphoned the money through the non-existent County Bursary, Education Development and Infrastructure Committee. The committee officials were involved in irregular cash withdrawals and prepared fake minutes for meetings that never took place.
“Investigations revealed that the County Bursary, Education Development and Infrastructure Committee was never established, but the members nevertheless assumed the role of members. Further, the officials were involved in irregular cash withdrawals and prepared fake minutes for meetings that did not take place,” the commission reported.
The Director of Public Prosecutions has approved the charges against the suspects, recommending that they be charged with conspiracy to commit an offence of corruption, among others.
The main charge sheet stated that on numerous dates between November 12 and December 18, 2021, within West Pokot County being employees of the county, they jointly conspired to commit economic crime by fraudulently acquiring public money of Sh291,063,050 through irregular withdrawals from the West Pokot County Bursary Education Development and Infrastructure Fund.
Ms Ngoriakes and Mr Arusio were charged with another charge of irregular withdrawals from the same account.
The charge sheet stated that on various dates between February 8 and October 11, 2018, within West Pokot County, they fraudulently acquired public money Sh5,385,900 through irregular withdrawals from the county bursary account fund contrary to the Anti-Economic Act of 2003.
They were also charged with other charges of making false documents that were used to steal public money in West Pokot County between 2018 and 2022
While issuing directives on bond application, Eldoret Chief Magistrate Dennis Mikoyan observed that none of the parties objected to being released on bond.
Mr Mikoyan directed that following an application by the State Counsel to release the accused on strict bond terms, the court will make a ruling on the application on October 1.
The court has directed the fourth accused suspect, Simon Kachapi Kodumok, the former chief officer for education, to present himself in court on Tuesday next week to take a plea, failure to which the court will issue a warrant of arrest.
Lawyer holding brief for the three suspects Kevin Ondaka had pleaded with the court to release his clients on reasonable bond and bail terms owing to their respective circumstances.
Mr Ondaka informed the court that Mr Kodumuk could not make it to court for plea-taking due to illness.
"The first accused person is incapacitated and is currently admitted in a hospital where he is recuperating and once he recovers, I shall ensure that he avails himself in court," said Mr Ondaka.
He told the Magistrate that none of the accused persons had a passport and that they were not a flight risk.
"My clients are not a flight risk and have fixed abodes. I implore the court to release them on reasonable bond and bail terms,” the lawyer told the court.
In his rejoinder, the State Counsel called for stiffer bond and bail terms for the accused persons, owing to the amount of public funds involved in the case they are facing.
