MP Ndegwa charged with abuse of office

LAMU West MP Julius Ndegwa was charged yesterday with abuse of office.

Ndegwa is accused of taking Sh1 million meant for the administration of the Constituency Development Fund office between July 1 and October 10, 2013.

Ndegwa was also charged alongside six people with conspiring to commit an economic crime.

The MP, Michael Thegeru, Yussuf Hassan, Sophia Wanjiru and Zakayo Gitonga were charged with irregularly transferring Sh1.6 million from the CDF account between July 1 and October 10, 2013.

The court was told the money was allocated for the construction of the Witu livestock cattle dip.

They were also charged with two counts of irregular reallocation of allocated funds in the constituency.

The five denied the charges before Mombasa chief magistrate Susan Shitubi.

Two people, Alfred Mnjaema and Cornell Tuva, did not appear in court and an arrest warrant was issued for them.

Lawyer William Kahindi urged the court to release his clients on bail.

Kahindi said Ndegwa had presented himself on June 5 before Justice Luka Kimaru and was released on a personal bond.

Assistant DPP Alexander Muteti did not oppose their release on bond.

They were each released on Sh3 million bond or Sh1 million bail.

The case will be heard on July 23.