Former Kenya Pipeline boss Joe Sang acquitted in Ksh.1.9B Kisumu Oil Jetty case

Exactly four years ago on December 7, 2018, the then Managing Director of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) Joe Sang was arrested and processed at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

He and four other officials spent the night in police cells until they were presented in court the following week and freed on bail.

And after four years, Joe Sang and five former senior officers of KPC have now been acquitted.

They are former company Secretary Gloria Khafafa, former Head of Procurement Vincent Cheruiyot, Nicholas Gatobu who served as Procurement Manager, General Manager in charge of Infrastructure Billy Aseka, and GM Finance Samuel Odonyo.

Senior Principal Magistrate Victor Wakumile observed that despite charges that the officials had implemented a project that had never been planned for costing Ksh.1.9 billion, the Kisumu oil jetty project was conceived as early as the year 2006 when most of the accused persons had not joined the company.

Their mistake, according to the prosecution, was that they irregularly made payments between June 2016 and June 2017.

Magistrate Wakumile regretted that he was forced to listen to a matter that should have never been taken to court.

“The evidence here is that they delivered what no local company had ever done, a project of over Ksh.1.0 billion…so instead of being appreciated, we ended up vilifying them,” noted the judge.

The judgment by Wakumile comes just weeks after he allowed the withdrawal of charges against Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, after the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) pleaded lack of evidence to sustain a full trial.

The Senior Principal Magistrate regretting having spent years working on a case that was weak evidentially.

By the time Sang was arrested, he had notified the KPC board that he would be leaving the company in four months, by which time he would not be seeking renewal of his contract.

He was however sacked upon his arrest, as the other accused persons lost their jobs after they were barred from accessing their offices. It was an emotional relief for them.