Kenya prosecutor to charge 54 officials over alleged $80m graft scandal

Kenya's chief prosecutor said Monday that he would charge 54 people, including dozens of civil servants over an alleged theft of 8 billion Kenyan shillings (78 million US dollars) from the country’s National Youth Service (NYS).

Richard Ndubai, the director of the NYS, was arrested and 40 public officials and 14 private sector individuals were under investigation for their involvement in the missing funds, Kenya's Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Mohamed Haji said in a news conference.

The NYS is an organisation under the Government of Kenya, which was established in 1964 aiming to train young people in important national matters.

Monday's events mark the second corruption scandal to hit the NYS in the past three years.

With a surge in budget up to some 250 million US dollars per year, the NYS has been in troubles over Kenya's endemic corruption with the first scandal breaking out in 2015 after the alleged fraudulent payment of millions of dollars for goods and services, often to family and friends of powerful politicians.

Several suspects were transported by SUV to a police station. /Reuters Photo

"Investigations reveal that there was no procurement whatsoever,” Harji said to Reuters.  

He also added that the alleged investigation would soon enter into the second phase and four special prosecutors set to be appointed to assist the case.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta pledged to crack down corruption later on Monday. "We are not going to tolerate unethical people. People with responsibility must be ready to serve and not to be served," he said.

The probe is seen as a blow against President Kenyatta's commitment to stamp out corruption, which he made when first elected in 2013.

Earlier this year, a court acquitted almost two dozen of the agency's officials over an alleged theft of almost 475,000 US dollars in 2015.

(With inputs from Reuters, AFP)

Place Your Advertisement Here. Call 08168603984 For Your Booking.