Nyamira County Assembly Clerk charged in Ksh.30M tender case, freed on Ksh.400K cash bail

Nyamira County Assembly Clerk Duke Simeon Onyari was on Friday arraigned over alleged procurement irregularities in the award of a tender for the construction of the county assembly office block.

Onyari appeared before the Nyamira Chief Magistrate's Court, where he pleaded not guilty to two corruption-related charges stemming from the award of Tender No. CAN/T/027/2017-2021 to Jetta Builders Limited.

According to court documents, Onyari, who was serving as Acting Clerk and Accounting Officer of the County Assembly of Nyamira in June 2018, is accused of abusing his office by improperly awarding the tender to Jetta Builders Limited despite the company not being the lowest evaluated bidder.

Prosecutors allege that the decision conferred an unlawful benefit of over Ksh.30.2 million to the contractor.

He also faces a second charge of wilful failure to comply with procurement laws. The prosecution alleges that he breached provisions of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015, by awarding the contract to a bidder that had not submitted the lowest evaluated responsive bid.

The charges arise from investigations by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) into the procurement of the Nyamira County Assembly office block project, which led the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to approve the prosecution of seven county assembly officials in March this year over alleged procurement irregularities and misappropriation of public funds.

EACC said Onyari was arrested in Nairobi on June 2 and taken to Kisii ahead of his planned arraignment. However, he was admitted to Bosongo Medical Centre on June 4 and remained hospitalized until June 11, when investigators re-arrested him after receiving confirmation from doctors that he had been discharged.

During the plea-taking, the defence accused investigators and police officers of violating the clerk's rights by allegedly removing him from hospital while he was undergoing treatment.

The prosecution dismissed the claim, telling the court that the arrest was conducted after medical personnel confirmed he had been discharged.

The prosecution further argued that the accused was a flight risk and urged the court to impose stricter bail terms, citing the substantial public funds allegedly lost through the procurement process.

The court released Onyari on a cash bail of Ksh.400,000 or an alternative bond of Ksh.1 million with a surety of a similar amount. He was also ordered to surrender his passport to the court by June 15.

The case will be mentioned on June 29 for possible consolidation with a related matter before the Keroka court and to confirm the supply of prosecution documents to the defence.

The hearing has been scheduled for August 18, 2026.