EACC recovers Ksh.8.6M from ex-gov’t officer charged in Nairobi public cemetery scandal

This is after High Court Judge John Onyiego found that Boniface Okerosi Misera, who was the Head of Procurement at the Ministry of Local Government, had fraudulently received Ksh.8.6 million public money through a proxy.

The Judge thus ordered that Okerosi to pay to the EACC Ksh.8.6 million together with costs and interest from the date of fraudulent receipt of the monies in 2009.

‘’This is the 3rd recovery suit to be completed in court out of the 9 suits filed by EACC to recover the funds lost in the fraudulent purchase of public cemetery land by the defunct City Council of Nairobi.’’

‘’The case was filed in 2012 and the remaining 6 suits against other beneficiaries are at different stages of hearing before the Courts,’’ said EACC. 

The 1st Judgment which was delivered by the High Court on February 22, 2022 EACC recovered Ksh.8 million from one Stephen Kamau Githinji, the owner of Valley Road Shell Petrol Station. He is believed to have laundered the money after receiving it on behalf of the Head of Procurement at the City Council

In the second judgement delivered on 6th July, 2023 EACC recovered Ksh.9.45 million from a private company, Naen Rech Limited and its Director Maina Chege.

The recovered sum is part of Ksh.283 million that the government had disbursed to the then Nairobi City Town Clerk as payment for the purchase of land for use as a public cemetery.

Investigations by EACC established that City County officials colluded with other individuals to purchase land worth Ksh.110 million and shared the remaining Ksh.173 million amongst themselves and private companies associated with them.

The anti-graft body is in the process of recovering the Ksh.173 million through civil proceedings.

The scandal saw some of the implicated officials convicted and jailed, with former Nairobi Town Clerk John Gakuo who was among the principal schemers dying in prison while serving his jail term.