National Hospital Insurance Fund chief Geoffrey Mwangi and Chief Finance Director Wilbert Kurgat have been remanded at Muthaiga Police Station in Nairobi.
Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi issued the ruling on Monday, when they were arraigned on charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice and disobedience to lawful orders.
PAYMENT VOUCHERS
Mr Mwangi and Mr Kurgat did not plead to any charges as expected.
The two will return to court on Tuesday to know whether they will take plea in the case. The magistrate said he will issue the ruling at 11.30am.
While arguing for the postponement of plea-taking, the accused’s lawyers said they do not know the documents they are said to have failed to produce.
They said that in an earlier court order, investigators did not specify the documents that their clients were to supply.
“Our main complaint is that the charge sheet is defective. Whether or not they were served with an order to avail certain documents, the charge is defective,” said Prof. Tom Ojienda.
The prosecution, however, told the court that Mr Mwangi and Mr Kurgat were well aware that they were required to surrender payment vouchers.
Magistrate Andayi ordered the two remanded at Muthaiga until Tuesday, when he will rule on whether they should take plea in the case.
“This is a deviatory tactic carefully calculated to water down our case against them. Refusing to comply with an order because of not understanding it is impunity,” said prosecutor Alex Muteti.
GRAFT PROBE
Mr Mwangi and Mr Kurgat were arrested on November 23 on allegations of obstructing ongoing graft investigations at the insurance company.
The NHIF is reported to have lost Sh93 million after it emerged that a 23-acre parcel of land it claimed to have bought in 2002 actually belongs to a group from the Maasai community.
In a statement on Saturday, DPP Noordin Haji noted that Mr Mwangi and Mr Kurgat denied officers of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) access to crucial documents.
He identified the documents at payment vouchers and other books that were deemed important to the investigation.