A former CEO of the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) has been ordered to refund Sh11.5 million to the agency, money which he claimed to have withdrawn, to procure livestock to supply canned meat to the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) in Somalia.
Justice John Onyiego said in the decision that Ibrahim Haji Isaak withdrew the money but failed to account for it.
“What that means, is that he dishonestly spent the money without proper accountability hence an act of fraud and breach of public duty. I have no doubt in my mind that the defendant failed to account for the public funds to which he was duty-bound to refund to the corporation,” said the judge.
The court ordered him to refund the money with interest at court rates from 2012. Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) through Viola Ocharo told the court that Dr Isaak was the joint signatory to KMC’s First Community Bank account.
He went to the bank’s head office and presented a letter requesting the withdrawal of the money, which was approved. But despite agreeing that he withdrew the money, he failed to account for it, hence it could be presumed that it was used for personal gain.
But in defence, the former CEO said other than supplying meat to KDF in Somalia in 2012, he needed to urgently supply beef to a client based in Dubai known as Blue Mountain Company. He also defended himself saying he was never a custodian of the accounting documents and in the absence of the substantive board, the organisation’s day-to-day operations still proceeded without a hindrance.
The EACC said Dr Isaak did not attach any documentary proof that he spent the money for the intended purpose.
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