- Chavangi argued that his role was simply to implement NLC’s Land Acquisition and Compensation Committee decision.
- He further said his role in authorising a payment schedule of the project affected persons was merely administrative.
Suspended National Land Commission CEO Tom Chavangi has lost his bid to be exonerated from the graft case he is facing alongside former NLC boss Muhammad Swazuri.
He had filed a petition in court challenging his prosecution in the matter where they are accused of inflating compensation for land hived off for Port Reitz-Moi Airport Road in Mombasa.
In the case, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission accused the duo of varying the cost of compensation upwards to Sh109 million from the initial figure of Sh34.5 million.
Chavangi argued that his role was simply to implement NLC’s Land Acquisition and Compensation Committee decision.
The committee, he said, approved and authorised a payment schedule of the project of affected persons adding that his role was merely administrative.
He told the court that as chief executive officer, he was presented with a technical report and minutes of the relevant committee having approved the payment schedule.
Chavangi further said his role was principally that of “a glorified clerk”, arguing he was obligated to implement that decision of the approved payments without question.
He said the decision to prosecute him was done without the approval of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
But Justice John Mativo dismissed his argument, saying the sentiments to the effect of him being a clerk were a joke.
The judge said the suspended CEO was bound by the Public Finance Management Act, 2012, which spells his responsibilities in the management of public funds as an accounting officer.
“I find nothing to suggest that the decision to prosecute was instituted without the approval of the DPP. These factual allegations are not backed by evidence,” Mativo said.
The judge further said that the PFM Act is the law that prevails when there is conflict between it and other laws.
Mativo, while dismissing the petition with no costs to Chavangi, said the obligations of public officers on management of public funds fall under the PFMA.
The CEO said the charge on financial misconduct and conspiracy to commit an offence of corruption was unnecessary and superfluous.
He also said it was purportedly not supported with evidence and that the facts of the case did not support the particulars of the offences.
But Mativo said the petitioner did not demonstrate that the prosecution lacks factual basis or that his prosecution was an abuse of court process.
“The irresistible conclusion is that this petition must fail,” the judge said.
(edited by Amol Awuor)