Former KPA Manduku pays Sh12m to secure freedom
Former Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Managing Director Daniel Manduku finally secured his freedom yesterday after depositing a Sh12 million cash bail in a Sh1.4 billion corruption case he is facing.
He was last Friday charged alongside Juma Fadhili, a works officer, with four counts of conspiracy to commit an offence of corruption and abuse of office.
Charges stated that the two approved the procurement of concrete barriers worth Sh1,429,730,721 without an approved budget between March and August 2019.
They denied the charges before Chief Magistrate Lawrence Mugambi of Milimani Anti-Corruption Court, who ordered each of them to be released on cash bail of Sh12 million.
Mugambi directed that the duo be held at the Kileleshwa Police Station pending the processing of the bail terms.
It was until yesterday that Manduku finally managed to raise the full amount of the money and was freed while Fadhili remained n custody.
Case will be mentioned on September 25.
On Monday, Manduku filed an application for a review of the bail terms through lawyer Nelson Havi, arguing that he is not able to raise the high amount and has been languishing in police cells since last week.
“The cash bail of Sh12 million is excessive bearing in mind his personal circumstances, the depressed economic environment arising from the coronavirus pandemic and the fact that he is jobless, having resigned as KPA boss in March,” said Havi.
Havi told the court that Manduku had only managed to raise Sh3 million through donations from family and friends and that he has a respiratory problem which is likely to worsen if he continues being in remand.
Flight risk
He further argued that none of the charges against Manduku suggests that he benefited from proceeds of crime and that his only alleged crime was failing to comply with procurement regulations, which should not attract the high bail amounts.
“It is not a matter in which he is a beneficiary of alleged corrupt practices that can lead to a conclusion that he has in his possession part of the money to justify the high bail amount,” said Havi.
He added that Manduku was not a flight risk to warrant the high amount, which is tantamount to denying him bail.
