Man found guilty of ‘offering’ KDF jobs, jailed for three years
By Amina WakoA former Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) officer was on Friday sentenced to three years in prison after he was found guilty of soliciting and receiving a bribe.
Andrew Muoki Mutua was said to have offered himself as someone in a position to influence the recruitment of two Kenyans into the disciplined forces.
In a court-martial sitting at Isiolo Barracks on Friday where Isiolo Chief Magistrate Samuel Mungai was the Judge Advocate of the Court Martia, Muoko was convicted to a custodial sentence after finding him guilty on three counts of fraud during the 2019 recruitment.
On the first count, Muoki who was a Sergeant before he was dismissed from KDF for the offences, was found guilty of obtaining Sh 300,000 from Edwin Kinyua Muriithi and his father Muriithi Kinyua.
The court heard that Kinyua had a series of meetings with Muoki at restaurants in Nairobi in 2019 where he offered to help the complainant secure a job during a recruitment exercise that was to happen later that year.
After the meetings, Kinyua asked his father, who is a peasant farmer, to help him raise Sh 300,000.
With a promise of employment, Muriithi borrowed the money to raise the required amount which he deposited to the accused person’s bank account.
The two however became worried when the year’s recruitment process ended without them getting a letter.
Devastated by the turn of events, Kinyua lodged a complaint through the Ministry of Defence (MoD) Website. The complaint was investigated, and Muoki was arrested and charged on December 3, 2020
On the second and third counts, Muoki was found guilty of soliciting Sh.450,000 from Nelson Mandera Kabwere to help his friend Mohammed Shukri to secure the rare opportunity of serving in the military.
The money was to be paid in two installments with a down payment of Sh250,000 made immediately to ‘process the calling letter’ while the balance was to be paid after Mohammed had joined the Recruits Training School (RTS) within Moi Barracks in Eldoret.
Muoki is said to have received the complainant’s credentials among them the national identity card, academic certificates, HIV test results as well as other supporting documents.
In his defence, the accused alleged that the money deposited in his account was part of the payment made by his customers for a cereals business he runs. T
The Court Martial, however, dismissed the defence as an afterthought which was unconvincing.
The Court-Martial gave a sentence of two years imprisonment for count one, six months, and one year in jail for the second and third counts respectively, and ordered the sentences to run concurrently.