• Ojaamong was put on his defence on May 30 after prosecution found he has case to answer. Twenty prosecution witnesses testified.
• Charged alongside five executive committee members and a German firm headed by Kenyan and German entrepreneurs.
Image: JANE CHEROTICH
Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong on Wednesday denied conspiring with county officials to defraud the county government of Sh8 million involving solid waste management.
Ojaamong appeared before Anti-Corruption Court magistrate Douglas Ogoti for his defence hearing and gave an unsworn statement.
The state found he had a case to answer in May after the prosecution called 20 witnesses. Ojaamong is charged alongside five county executive committee members - Bernard Yaite, Timon Otieno, Leonard Wanda, Allan Ekweny and Samuel Ombui.
Madam R Enterprises Limited (MRE), a company that received county funds, also faces charges together with its owners Edna Adhiambo, Renish Achieng and Sebastian Hallensleben.
It is alleged the county chief intentionally entered into an MoU while in Berlin, Germany, on April 7, 2014, yet he knew the feasibility study for solid waste management had not been budgeted for in 2013-14.
On Wednesday, Ojaamong told the court the Busia county assembly had approved the allocation for the project on solid waste management. He said it was approved after it went through the standard process.
The governor also said the project was properly part of the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) that went through public participation.
“The project had been identified by members of the public through public participation. The department could not provide enough funds to undertake this project. In our CIDP we also indicated the sources of funds to fund the proposed projects in Busia county,” he said.
The court heard that Sh8 million was specifically for a feasibility study to jump-start solid waste management.
“We were satisfied with the trip we made to Germany. It made us learn a lot about solid waste management. Madam R was a very sincere partner. She volunteered to train people there on what solid waste management is,” Ojaamong said.
According to the prosecution’s case, Ojaamong had on April 1, 2014, travelled to Germany with county officials on a fact-finding mission on new technologies for solid waste management.
The trip was fully funded by MRE Limited but the various plans on waste management were not by MRE and its directors Achieng and Hallensleben.
The prosecution in written submissions indicated that seven days afterward, Ojaamong executed an MoU between MRE Ltd and the Busia county government. The county was to pay Sh9 million to MRE for a feasibility study on solid waste management.
However, at the time of signing the MoU, MRE was not officially in existence, as it had not been incorporated. The company came into existence on July 8, 2014.
(Edited by V. Graham)