UPDATE: The Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakango has been released. The COB was released at around 1:00 PM following her arrest.
She was charged before the court on Tuesday, December 5.
Nyakango was arrested while in Mombasa and will be charged with three other charges including forgery.
In a letter written to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) recommended that the individuals be charged with four charges.
“We therefore direct that all the aforementioned suspects be charged jointly with the following; Conspiracy to defraud contrary to section 317 of the Penal Code, operating a Sacco without a License Contrary to Section 24 as read with Section 66 of the Sacco societies Act 2008.
“Forgery c/s 345 as read with section 349 of the Penal Code and uttering a false document c/s 353 of the penal code,” the letter read in part.
Details About the Arrest of Nyakango
The arrest was made in connection to a complaint made against her and 10 others in 2016 before Nyakango ascended to her position in June 2020.
In addition, the office of the DPP approved the charges against the 10 in the letter to the DCI on November 30.
In the letter, DPP stated that there was sufficient evidence to charge the suspect on all four charges.
Reports indicated that efforts to arrest the other 10 were ongoing.
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Nyakango Vocal About the Use of Government Resources
Earlier in November, the COB appeared before the National Dialogue Committee at the Bomas of Kenya and raised concerns about the waste of public funds.
She complained about the overbudgeting of salaries of state officials giving an example of her own salary budget that was three times higher than it ought to be.
”I would ask the committee to talk to the national Treasury on a very serious note. The exaggeration is in the national treasury. I found out that my salary was budgeted at three times what I am paid, and it was like that for all the state officers,” Nyakango stated.
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Also, she lamented that she had been approving payment of public debts, yet she had not received satisfactory explanation on what the payment catered for.
Further, she noted that most of the loans taken out to fund projects were unrelated to any of the intended initiatives, asking the national Treasury to reduce expenditure.
“I have been approving payments of public debts and I have looked at what we are paying for. Many of these things cannot be identified,” she added.
