A court-martial at Isiolo Barracks has sentenced a former Kenya Defence Forces Sergeant to two years in prison for Sh750,000 fraud.
Isiolo Chief Magistrate Samuel Mungai found Muoki Mutua guilty of three counts.
He was found guilty of soliciting and receiving bribes by pretending he would influence the recruitment of two Kenyans into KDF during the 2019 recruitment.
On the first count, Muoki was found guilty of obtaining Sh300,000 from Edwin Kinyua Muriithi and his father Muriithi Kinyua.
The court heard that Muriithi had a series of meetings with Muoki at restaurants in Nairobi in 2019 where he promised to help him secure a job during a recruitment exercise that was to happen later that year.
Since the complainant didn’t have money, he approached his father, a peasant farmer, to help raise the Sh300,000 for the job offer which would make his future bright.
With a view of making the future of his son better, Kinyua was forced to borrow the money to raise the required amount which he deposited to the accused person’s bank account.
The two, however, became suspicious when Muoki started becoming elusive after the recruitment drive ended without being presented with a calling letter for the military training.
Muriithi after failing to reach Muoki lodged a complaint through the Ministry of Defence Website.
The complaint was investigated and the accused arrested and charged on December 3, last year.
On the second and third counts, Muoki was found guilty of soliciting Sh450,000 from Nelson Mandera Kabwere to help his friend Mohammed Shukri to secure an opportunity in the military.
The money was to be paid in two instalments with a down payment of Sh250,000 made immediately to process the calling letter while the balance was to be paid after Shukri joined the Recruits Training School within Moi Barracks in Eldoret.
Muoki is said to have received the complainant’s credentials among them the national identity card, academic certificates, HIV test results as well as other supporting documents.
In his defence, the accused alleged that the money deposited in his account was part of the payment made by his customers for a cereals business he runs.
The Court Martial, however, dismissed the defence as an afterthought and very unconvincing.
Consequently, the Court Martial gave a sentence of two years imprisonment for count one, six months and one year in jail for the second and third counts respectively and ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris