Four former Nairobi county officials have been jailed for defrauding the city Sh18 million during Evans Kidero tenure.
In the judgment delivered by Justice Esther Maina, the four were given an option to pay a total fine of Sh21.4 million or serve a combined 30-year jail term after they were found guilty of defrauding City Hall.
Chief Finance Officer Jimmy Kiamba was sentenced to a cumulative 15 years in jail for conspiring to defraud the county of the said amount alongside the other three other officials.
“He used his office as a public officer to improperly confer a benefit to another person and as such must be punished for his actions. I have listened to the mitigation and the circumstances of the case and come to the conclusion that the sentence is sufficient,” Justice Maina ruled.
Kiamba was found guilty of five counts of abuse of office and jailed for three years in each count bringing the cumulative total to 15 years.
He will, however, serve only three years in jail as the sentences will run concurrently.
According to Justice Esther, Kiamba bore the greatest responsibility for using his office inappropriately during the tenure of Nairobi’s first Governor Evans Kidero.
Kiamba is accused of authorising illegal payments which led to the loss of public funds at City Hall.
Justice Maina further ordered the former Chief Finance Officer to pay a fine of Sh10.7 million to escape the jail sentence.
Kiamba’s co-accused Lilian Wanjiru Ndegwa, who was the Nairobi County Secretary at the time the offence took place in 2014, was also handed a cumulative 12-year jail term or a fine of Sh9.5 million.
Stephen Osiro, former head of Treasury at City Hall, escaped with a fine of Sh1.2 million- or a three-year jail sentence for his role in the scandal while Regina Rotich who also served as a secretary in Kidero’s government was sentenced to six years in jail or pay Sh1.2 million fine.
The four former public officials were convicted for their roles in signing cheques and approving payments totalling Sh17, 902,728 without following a clear procedure.