On Tuesday, a Kirinyaga County ward representative was charged with defrauding the Kenya Ports Authority of $76,347.35 an equivalent of Sh8.8 million.
Kamau Murango, the county assembly majority leader and a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Senate candidate, was charged alongside Lilian Kemunto, who was not present in court.
The two, as directors of Ports & Harbours Support Services, allegedly obtained money from the KPA to supply Grove crane spare parts.
The duo was also accused of two counts of forgery, two counts of uttering a fake document, and two counts of procurement fraud.
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Appearing before Mombasa Senior Resident Magistrate Martin Rabera, Murango entered a not guilty plea and was freed on a Sh1 million bond with a surety of the same amount or a Sh100,000 cash bail.
Court documents show that the two forged a letter dated March 15, 2020, purported to be from Manitowoc Crane Group.
They are also accused of faking a Manitowoc bid letter dated March 18, 2020, which they said was issued by the company.
The prosecution told the court that on January 24, 2020, at the KPA headquarters in Mombasa, the two presented the documents to the head of procurement and supplies, claiming that they were real.
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The documents were necessary in the tender bidding.
Murango through his lawyer, Danstan Omari, argued that that the charges against him were a political witch hunt because the complainant acknowledged that his signature was not forged.
“The accused is being brought to you not because the Directorate of Criminal Investigations has evidence against him, but because the Principal Secretary (for Interior) has overruled the DCI,” Omari told the court.
His lawyer said that the detention and arraignment of his client was to allow Martha Karua, the running mate of the Azimio One Kenya coalition party, to attend her homecoming on Tuesday.
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Omari also told the court that the MCA was in court because he refused to vote in favour of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) bill after being persuaded to do so.
Kemunto had not been summoned to court, he said, but he would make sure she appeared next week to answer to the allegations.
The matter will be mentioned on May 31.
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