A court in Nairobi has ruled that Transport Chief Administrative Secretary Chris Obure, who also served as finance minister under former President Daniel arap Moi has a case to answer in the Anglo Leasing saga which saw over Ksh.1 billion misused.
Obure who later became Bobasi Constituency Member of Parliament, was the most senior official to be charged in the Anglo Leasing saga which came to light in early 2000.
Trial Magistrate Anne Mwangi established a prima facie case against Obure in a ruling rendered on Friday.
“After evaluating the evidence on record, I find that the state has established a prima facie case against all the accused persons in the case,” the magistrate sitting in Nairobi ruled.
The CAS has been accused of misappropriating about Ksh.928 million in procuring VSAT for Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK).
When the case came to light, it was alleged that Obure was paid about Ksh.3.2 billion (30 million euros) to supply the Kenyan government with a system to print new high-technology passports; other fictitious companies involved in the scam were given money to supply naval ships and forensic laboratories.
None of the contracts were honoured.
Lawyer Gibson Kimani, who represented Obure, sought more time to consult his client on how to proceed on the matter.
The court, however, said the matter will proceed for a pre-trial on October 8, 2021.
Obure was charged in March 2015 alongside former Postmaster-General Francis Chahonyo, former Transport PS Sammy Kyungu, and EX-Finance Secretary Samuel Bundotich.
Detectives on the matter told the court they had interviewed several persons of interest including former internal security minister Chris Murungaru and his then Principal Secretary David Mwangi.
Others interviewed were former Finance Minister David Mwiraria and David Onyonka who was responsible for debt management.
Former Attorney General Amos Wako and his deputy Dorcas Achapa were also interviewed.
The Anglo Leasing affair, which involved contracts being awarded to phantom firms, shocked Kenyans when it was revealed in 2004.
Four of Mr Kibaki’s cabinet ministers were alleged to have been caught up in the affair – named in a report by former corruption tsar John Githongo – but were never charged. They all denied involvement.
