An expose done by Citizen TV journalists on Mara University has just shown as how top officials loot public institutions. From NYS 1,2 and 3, to sugar and maize scandals, and now, the looting in public institutions.
The investigative feature dubbed The Mara Heist that ran on Sunday evening compiled by two of the station’s journalists, Asha Mwilu and Waihiga Mwaura, included the personal testimony of Spencer Sankale, one of the four individuals who exposed the wanton corruption at the public university.
Spencer, who had served as the acting finance officer before his demotion in August 2017, secretly made recordings of illegal cash transactions he was allegedly instructed to make by the school’s Vice-Chancellor (VC), Professor Mary Walingo.
Spencer had furnished the investigative journalists with audio and video tapes made over a period of two years, which articulated how the entire syndicate managed to siphon over Ksh190million from the school’s accounts.
The incriminating evidence pointed at the VC, Spencers’s replacement after his demotion Anaclet Okumu and Ms Walingo’s driver Noor Abdi, as the main culprits.
According to the former acting finance officer’s statement, the three key suspects used to make huge lumpsum cash withdrawals using shady documentation, to the tune of Ksh10 million in a week.
Noor was the main conduit used by the VC to order Spencer to make the undocumented cash withdrawals, with the whistle blower going on to reveal that the driver used to speak in codes during such instances.
In one of the recordings, Noor could be heard stating,“Ile Ng’ombe kubwa inahitaji nyasi, bunde mbili na nusu, which was a coded message that translated to, the VC needs Ksh 250,000.”
After reporting the details of the grand heist to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Spencer was asked whether he fears the consequences of what he did, he maintained that he was ready for anything, adding that he’d rather die on his feet, than live on his knees.