Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji has received 10
files in relation to the Sh9 billion National Youth Service scandal,
opening the window for arrests and prosecutions of suspects starting
Monday.
The DPP confirmed, through a tweet Sunday
morning, that he had received Inquiry Files No. 51 of 2018 to 60 of 2018
through a letter from Director of Criminal Investigations George
Kinoti.
“A team of experienced prosecutors led by the
DPP is currently undertaking final review of the files,” said the tweet
from the DPP’s office. The DPP said the files touch on 10 companies and
more than 40 individuals who are under investigation over the possible
loss of taxpayers’ funds at the NYS.
President Uhuru
Kenyatta’s call for a speedy conclusion and for all those mentioned
adversely to step aside has further hastened the process.
The 10 files, the DPP said, were only the first phase of the full-blown probe on NYS.
Already,
Youth principal secretary Lilian Omollo and NYS director-general
Richard Ndubai have stepped aside for three months to allow
investigators conclude probe.
The two were among 40 people who were summoned for questioning by the DCI.
Ms
Omollo, who appeared before the National Assembly’s Public Accounts
Committee, said the money had not been lost even as she admitted some
suppliers remain unpaid.
The PS said the
Auditor-General’s 2016/17 report did not flag off any fraudulent
transactions. The report is yet to be tabled in the National
Assembly.The siphoning of money from NYS, investigators believe, was a
well-orchestrated plan with key players in the decision-making process
involved.
The payment process would be initiated from
the NYS head office, then the Ministry of Youth headquarters would okay
it before Treasury would allow the money to leave government coffers
right to banks where it would be withdrawn within hours of hitting
designated accounts.
In a long list of companies under
investigation, two —Firstling Supplies and Flagstone Merchants —
received Sh 1.7 billion from the National Youth Service between November
and December last year.Some of the transactions under investigation
were double payments.In one case, four payments were made to a company
for one voucher.
Each of the payments was worth more
than Sh46 million, with the difference in amounts varying by only a few
hundreds of shillings.
In another such payment, the company received equal amounts of money, yet only one voucher was available for scrutiny.
Detectives
are struggling to establish whether the deliveries indicated were even
made. Multiple payments were released from the IFMIS to the companies’
accounts at intervals, with the amounts being released less than an hour
after a claim was made.
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