A former National Olympics Committee of Kenya official who was sentenced to 17 years in prison for corruption has claimed that he as wrongly convicted for the Sh55 million Rio 2016 Olympics scandal, claiming that no funds were lost.
Stephen arap Soi yesterday accused the trial magistrate of bias, claiming that he was convicted and sentenced for charges the prosecutor had not preferred against him.
He stated that he was condemned unfairly, maliciously, discriminatively, and on the misinterpretation of the law.
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“In convicting the appellant for misuse of public funds, it was incumbent upon the judicial officer to demonstrate that his or her finding is based on the law and facts, and be convinced that the accused is culpable and find him guilty,” said Mr Soi’s lawyers Julius Kitheka and Kimutai Bosek.
Mr Soi was fined Sh105.6 million in default after being found guilty of eight counts of corruption-related offences. He was sentenced on September 16, 2021 by the Chief Magistrate, Elizabeth Juma, at Milimani, Nairobi.
The retired police officer has lodged an appeal before the High Court challenging the conviction and sentence.
“The Principal Secretary said no money was lost. No audit report indicating any loss was produced by the prosecution. Both Houses of Parliament investigated and acquitted the officials. There is an overwhelming lack of proof on all counts in which Mr Soi was convicted,” the lawyers told Justice Esther Maina yesterday.
While urging the court to allow his appeal and quash the conviction, they argued that the evidence adduced by the prosecution witnesses could not secure a conviction since none of the witnesses linked him to the alleged corruption offences.
The court heard that Mr Soi was convicted on criminal charges which he could not have possibly committed because there was evidence on record that he was nowhere near the scene of crime as he had already travelled to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil for the Olympic Games.
The lawyers said Mr Soi was convicted on misapplication and misinterpretation of the law that as the Chef de Mission in the Rio Olympics of 2016, he was discharging the duties of a police/public officer.
“Yet he was in the assignment given the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK-K), a non-governmental organisation which is affiliated to the International Olympic Committee, whose role and functions have nothing to do with discharge of public duties in Kenya,” they argued.
They added that as a NOC-K official, Mr Soi was not bound by the provisions of the Anti-corruption and Economic Crimes Act, 2003, which only apply to public officers.
“The appellant was unconstitutionally discriminated against and condemned to pay fines for allowances said to have been overpaid to athletes and sports officials, yet the decision was arrived at by the National Steering Committee, made up of several individuals,” they stated.
They further said that Mr Soi was unlawfully condemned on a finding that he had conferred benefit to his superiors at NOC-K, Dr Kipchoge Keino and Kinyili Paul, (the president and secretary-general), yet there was no evidence of such payments.
Mr Kinyili was a accused person at the trial but was acquitted following a finding that no such payments were made to him, the court heard. The advocates alleged discrimination.
They added that Mr Soi was condemned on the basis of misinterpretation of the law that he could authorise payments in the ministry in charge of sports, yet he was not an employee of the ministry.
He had no authority to incur expenditure (AIE), therefore he could not be an AIE holder, accounting officer, or authorising officer.
On cancellation of air tickets for persons who failed to show up at the airport, the lawyers said it was wrong for the trial court to convict Mr Soi on that basis.
They said the majority of the individuals who did not turn up were senior government officers in the Ministry of Sports and government parastatals who were not under the authority or supervision of Mr Soi.
The judgment on his appeal will be delivered on November 24, 2022. BY DAILY NATION