Former CS Balala Freed By A Malindi Court After Pleading Not Guilty To Corruption Charges

Former Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala has been released on a Sh. 5 million bond or Sh. 1 million cash bail after pleading not guilty to his alleged involvement in a Ksh8.5 billion graft scandal.

Najib Balala was allegedly involved in the graft deal of the construction of the Ronald Ngala Utalii College during Uhuru Kenyatta’s tenure as President.

Balala, alongside his former Principal Secretary Leah Gwiyo and Joseph Odero, appeared before Chief Magistrate Joseph Mwaniki at the Malindi Law Courts.

According to the first count, Ex-CS Balala and Ex-PS Leah Gweyo were accused of collectively abusing their official positions. They allegedly favoured Baseline Architects Limited, Ujenzi Consultants, Armitech Consulting Engineering, and West Consult Consulting Engineers by opting to involve private consultants contrary to a Cabinet decision. This decision allegedly resulted in the irregular payment of Ksh 3.368,494,779.63 to the mentioned firms.

In the second charge, the ex-Cabinet Secretary and former Principal Secretary were accused of deliberately disregarding procurement laws, specifically Section 26(3)(a) of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act 2005.

They allegedly approved a payment of Ksh 159,361,444.00, which exceeded the approved budget for the financial year 2012/2013.

The court ordered the former Cabinet Secretary and Principal Secretary to be granted release on bonds of Sh5 million each, accompanied by a surety of equal value, or a cash bail of Sh1 million.

Out of the 16 individuals facing charges, only the three who were apprehended by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on Thursday night, were arraigned in court.