Court orders Sh25M recovery in Trans Nzoia stadium scam
EACC accused a contractor and county official of attempting to perpetrate tender fraud and misappropriate public funds allocated to the Trans Nzoia.
A court has ordered the recovery of KES25.3 million following the cancellation of an illegal contract for the renovation of Kenyatta Municipal Stadium in Trans Nzoia County.
On Wednesday, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) secured a major win as the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court in an ill-fated tender for renovation works in the stadium.
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Mr Justice Nixon Sifuna declared the tender null and void, citing fraud and procurement irregularities and directed the former Head of Supply Chain Management at the county, Joseph Muindi Tevulo, and the contractor, Robert Simiyu Wambulwa, to refund the KES25.3 million paid in fraudulent projects to the government, together with interest accrued from the date of filing the suit.
“A declaration that the contracts dated 16th September 2013 and 22nd April 2014 between the 3rd Defendant and the County Government of Trans Nzoia were founded on fraud and illegality, hence are null and void ab initio,” the judge stated.
In the suit filed by EACC, the Commission called on the court to revoke the tender as its process was marred by fraud, irregularities and illegalities.
It also accused the defendants of attempting to perpetrate tender fraud and misappropriate public funds allocated to the Trans Nzoia County government.
"The plaintiff has maintained that the tender process in the impugned tenders was tainted with fraud and illegalities on the part of the defendants," the court noted.
EACC further informed the court that its investigations disclosed instances of bid rigging in those tenders and that there were no tender evaluation minutes for those two tenders.
The Commission presented six witnesses during the hearing of the case, including senior officials from the Trans Nzoia County government and a contractor.
"This Court considers the subject transaction as an execution of illegality, rather than the rendering of a service for which payment should be made. In cases of tainted tendering process, liability should be to the awardee, and the facilitators within the procuring entity," the court noted.
