A former National Youth Service (NYS) senior officer was on Wednesday, November 6, sentenced to seven years in prison after he was found guilty of falsifying a document, while his accomplice was handed a five-year imprisonment on similar charges.
The first officer, a former Head of Procurement at the NYS, was handed the sentence after he was found guilty of making a false document, contrary to Section 347(a) as read with Section 349 of the Penal Code.
Further, the officer was handed a five-year jail term for breach of trust by a person employed in the Public Service, contrary to Section 127(1) as read with Section 127(2) of the Penal Code.
The ruling read by Justice Wandia Nyamu on behalf of Justice Wendy Kagendo ordered that the sentences run concurrently, without the option of a fine.
The duo was convicted of defrauding the NYS Service of Ksh791 million in one of the popular cases that rocked the country.
The officers were convicted for these actions that took place on December 1, 2014, at an unknown location in Kenya.
The court heard that the first officer, together with others not before the court, with intent to defraud, made a false document.
In the forgery allegations, the court established the two used a forged Ministry of Public Works supplies branch circular, which they purported to be a genuine document issued by the said ministry.
Forgery is an offence contrary to Section 345, which is tied to Section 349 of the Penal Code. Similarly, the suspect will be charged with intending to use a false document, contrary to Section 353 of the Penal Code.
The court also sentenced the second officer, a former NYS Director of Finance, to a five-year imprisonment without the option of a fine.
Court ruled that both on diverse occasions between December 1, 2014, and June 5, 2015, while working at the NYS headquarters in Nairobi committed a breach of trust by processing payments that led to the loss of millions of shillings at the NYS.
The sentencing of the two is a big win in the fight against graft in the country. The case that has lasted nine has seen the two sentenced to jail terms for fraud of public resources.
Source: kENYANS.CO.KE