Former Samburu Governor Moses Lenolkulal has appealed against his conviction and sentencing in the Sh83.4 million graft case.....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
The Governor says he was wrongfully convicted even as he urged the High Court to set aside the decision of the trial Magistrate Thomas Nzyoki.
In his appeal, the former county chief faults the Magistrate for failing to fully analyze and evaluate the evidence produced by the Prosecution in the case.
Nzyoki last week found Lenolkulal guilty of corruptly enriching himself with Sh83.4 million at the time he was in office.
The court punished him for actively trading with the county through his company Oryx Service Station which he used to supply fuel to the county.
The magistrate relied on 231 payment vouchers and local purchase orders as evidence in the case.
The magistrate said the integrity of the governor in the discharge of his official duties was compromised by private interest.
The magistrate further said the correct amount received by Oryx Service Station can only be ascertained from the station’s bank accounts which the court analyzed and arrived at a sum of Sh83,467,995.
This amount, Nzyoki said, was slightly below the amount stated in the charge sheet.
The amount stated in the charge sheet was Sh84.6 million.
But Nzyoki in convicting Lenolkulal said the variance in the amounts doesn’t affect the substance of the case.
He sentenced him to pay a fine of 85.Sh4 million or spend eight years behind bars.
But Lenolkulal in his appeal now says the Magistrate made a mistake by failing to find that the charges against him were not proved especially after the court said that the evidence produced in court in respect of the amounts paid were at variance with the amounts stated in the charge sheet.
“By substituting the figures set out in the charge sheet, the magistrate made a mistake in law by allowing himself to descend into the death of the trial court,” says Lenolkulal.
This he says denied him a fair hearing in the case.
He also argues that the trial court made a mistake in sentencing him under the Anticorruption and Economic Crimes Act even after finding that no loss was incurred for the fuel and lubricants supplied.
Lenolkulal wants his conviction quashed and his sentence to be set aside and ultimately be acquitted….CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ARTICLE>>>
