Former National Museums of Kenya (NMK) Director General, Dr Mzalendo Kibunjia, was on Tuesday, April 16, arraigned over corruption allegations involving the embezzlement of about Sh490 million.
Kibunjia is facing several accusations of abuse of office alongside seven other accused persons, including Oliver Okinyi, an ICT officer, and Oscar Mwaura.
According to the prosecution, the former NMK boss is alleged to have committed the crimes between 2016 and 2022, during his tenure as director-general of NMK, by illegally paying salaries and gratuity to ghost workers.
According to the charge sheet presented in court, the prosecution stated that Kibunjia, along with his co-accused, authorized the illegal payment of the funds, resulting in a loss of approximately Sh441 million.
He has been charged with the offences of corruption, abuse of office as well as an offence of committing money laundering crimes. Kibunja and his co-accused however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
“Between January 2016 and February 2022 within Nairobi city county, being public officers employed by the National Museums of Kenya, to wit the director general, the director of human resources and administration, payroll ICT officer and payroll accountant respectively and a private individual conspired to commit a corruption offence, namely the embezzlement of Sh441 million being public funds paid as salaries and gratuity to persons purportedly employed by the National Museums of Kenya,” read the charged sheet.
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Equally, Kibunjia is said to have between June 2016 and February 2022 as the director general of NMK used his office to improperly confer a benefit of Sh441 million as salaries and gratuity to persons purportedly employed by NMK.
He also with the help of his co-accused entered into an arrangement to include names of persons purportedly as employees of NMK to be paid Sh491 million as salaries and gratuity.
Kibunjia and three other NMK officials were on Monday April 15, 2024, detained at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission Integrity Centre Police Station, ahead of their appearance in court.
Aside from Kibunjia, Mwaura allegedly led a recruitment exercise of ghost workers who were paid the colossal amount of cash, which was later diverted into individual accounts.
The EACC detectives commenced investigations after they received a report that the NMK officials were allegedly mismanaging public funds through irregular payment of salaries.
“The suspects hatched a fraudulent scheme to make payment of salaries to ghost workers over 5 years. The money would subsequently be transferred to senior officials,” EACC said on its X account.
Each of the accused persons has been granted a cash bail of Sh5 million or a bond of Sh10 million, with a surety of a similar amount. The case will be mentioned on June 2, 2024.
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