The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has arraigned a Member of the County Assembly (MCA) and two former senior county officials over the alleged fraudulent loss of Ksh51.4 million from the Garissa County Government.
Abdi Ibrahim Daar, Bambala MCA, Mohamud Dubow Korane, former Garissa County Director of Accounting Services, and Yussuf Bethe Ali, former senior Principal Economist were charged alongside Qorjarey Enterprise and General Supplies Limited before Principal Magistrate Jackson Omwange. All the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The accused persons face 27 counts relating to conspiracy to commit an economic crime, abuse of office, fraudulent acquisition of public property, forgery, and uttering false documents.
The court heard that the offences were committed between September 14, 2021 and July 1, 2022, involving irregular payments for emergency food supplies, water trucking services and office furniture allegedly supplied to the County Government of Garissa but never delivered.
According to the prosecution, the accused conspired to facilitate the transfer of Sh51,495,253 to the company, between April 5 and June 30, 2022. The fraudulent acquisition charge specifically related to payments processed between April 7th and June 30, 2022.
Mr. Korane was charged with five counts of abuse of office for allegedly approving payments on various dates in April, May and June 2022. He is also charged with forgery of payment vouchers dated March 29, April 5, April 29, May 24 and June 15, 2022.
Mr. Ali is charged with abusing his office by raising invoices in the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) on April 6, April 14, May 4 and June 28-29, 2022, thereby facilitating the disputed payments.
Mr. Daar was charged with conspiracy, fraudulent acquisition of public property, forgery, and uttering false documents, having allegedly presented forged payment documents to commercial banks between April and July 2022.
The prosecution Counsel Evans Kazungu urged the court to impose strict bond terms, citing the gravity of the offences and the substantial amount of public funds involved. The court granted each accused a bond of Sh5 million with one surety or an alternative cash bail of Sh2 million.
The matter is set for mentioning on March 24, 2026, for pre-trial directions, with the hearing scheduled from May 4 to 7, 2026.
