- Through his new lawyer Mureithi, Oketch said he had paid back Sh375,000 and that there were M-Pesa records of the same.
- The court directed Oketch and his lawyer to present tomorrow in court the M-Pesa statements of the refund before a ruling is made.
Image: DOUGLAS OKIDDY
A city lawyer has opened a legal fight with his client over a Sh500,000 bail that he allegedly paid for the accused but has not been refunded.
Advocate Collins Osewe on Tuesday told Milimani Anti-Corruption principal magistrate Celesa Okore that his law firm paid the cash bail for Noah Oketch but he has not refunded the money despite dropping the law firm.
Oketch was in April charged with three counts of forging academic papers to secure the job of general manager, finance and ICT at the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation.
When he was arraigned to face the charges, he was represented by Osewe.
Osewe said Oketch's cash bail of Sh500,000 was paid from his law firm's account at KCB Bank, Milimani branch to the Judiciary account.
"The agreement we had for the refund or to make substitution of the cash bail with surety has not been honoured. I am asking the court to order that the refund be made now that the client has contracted another advocate and law firm," Osewe told the court.
Oketch in his response admitted the deposit was made but denied he had refused to refund.
Through his new lawyer Mureithi, Oketch said he had paid back Sh375,000 and that there were M-Pesa records of the same.
The court directed Oketch and his lawyer to present tomorrow in court the M-Pesa statements of the refund before a ruling is made.
Oketch is facing charges of forging a Master of Business Administration degree certificate purporting it to be a genuine document issued to him by the University of Nairobi.
He is facing another count of knowingly and fraudulently, with intent to deceive, uttering the same certificate to authorities at the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation for employment.
The Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission claims Oketch acquired public property in terms of salary and allowances amounting to Sh1,455,066 from REREC between April 1 to August 31, 2022, having been employed as general manager for finance and ICT using a forged degree certificate.
Dinah Jesang, a human resource officer at Rerec who handled the applications during the recruitment process of the manager, testified in the matter yesterday.
She said she oversaw the recruitment, having been delegated the role by her boss Evelyne Koech who is the human resource manager.
Hearing proceeds tomorrow.