PS Omollo admitted to hospital after spending second night in police custody

Public Service Principal Secretary Lilian Omollo at Milimani Law Courts, Nairobi. (Beverlyne Musili, Standard)

Public Service Principal Secretary Lilian Omollo was Wednesday morning admitted to the Kenyatta National Hospital, hours after she had been remanded to prison over a corruption-related case.

Ms Omollo was wheeled to KNH private wing after she fell seriously sick and could not walk.

Witnesses said she was trembling when she complained of being sick and was briefly seen by the prisons doctor before she was rushed to KNH where she was admitted.

“Given her condition, she was tired after sitting in court for more than 12 hours. She had to be admitted,” said a witness.

Earlier in the day, Ms Omollo and National Youth Service (NYS) boss Richard Ndubai – who both stepped aside to pave way for investigations – pleaded not guilty to conspiring to commit corruption at the youth agency.

The two also denied abuse of office charges leveled against them by the prosecution over their alleged role in the payment of Sh468 million to 10 companies, which investigators said supplied neither goods nor services to the NYS.

They were arrested on Monday morning and spent their nights in police cells ahead of their arraignment.

The 10 companies involved are Annwaw Investment, Njewanga Investments, Arkroad Holdings Limited, Kunjiwa Enterprises, Ameri Trade Limited, Ngwiwaco Enterprises, Jerrycathy Enterprises, Fisrtling Supplies Limited, Kalabash Food Supplies Limited, and Ersatz Enterprises.

Similar charges were denied by former Acting NYS Director-General Sammy Michuki as well as Senior Deputy Director Nicholas Ahere and Acting Director of Finance Wellington Lubira, who are among forty public servants accused of colluding to defraud the youth department.

Company directors and proprietors facing prosecutions are Anne Ngirita, Phyllis Njeri, Catherine Mwai, Antony Wamiti, James Thuita, Yvonne Ngugi, Jeremiah Ngirita, Lucy Ngirita, Andrine Nyambura, Catherine Kamuyu, Serah Muguru, Samwel Kanai, and James Katululu.

The Magistrate is set to rule on applications for bail by the 24 suspects who appeared in court on Tuesday next week with pre-trials for those charged in the NYS saga set commence on Wednesday.

Ms Omollo’s lawyer told the court that she was keen on clearing her name hence the commitment to cooperating with the court.

The prosecution through an affidavit filed in court had cited the seriousness of crimes the accused persons were facing as the reason they wanted them to remain in police custody to facilitate further investigations.

“There are compelling reasons to warrant the detention of the accused persons pending hearing and determination of their case,” reads an affidavit sworn by Chief Inspector Mike Muia, a senior investigating officer with the DCI.