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The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Renson Ingonga has urged the High Court to uphold a two-year jail term imposed on former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) CEO James Oswago over his involvement in procurement of Sh1.3 billion tender for the supply of the 2013 General Election materials.

Justice Nixon Sifuna was urged by the State prosecutor to uphold the conviction and sentence slapped on Oswago and former IEBC’s Deputy Secretary in charge of Support Services Wilson Shollei saying the court applied the law properly.

Oswago and Shollei were fined a total of Sh7.5 million after being found guilty in two counts of willful failure to comply with the law relating to procurement when they procured electronic Voter Identification devices for the March 4, 2013, General Election.

The prosecutor said that the magistrate properly examined the evidence adduced by the witnesses and the exhibits they produced in the trial court to prove the allegations against the duo.

“Oswago having been the CEO and the accounting officer and Shollei being the deputy Support Services, the court was right in invoking the sections of the law to elaborate their roles in matters of procurement. The sentence was proper and it was not based on what it is prescribed in law,” the prosecutor told the court. However, Oswago urged the judge to overturn the sentence saying it was too harsh and excessive.

“I pray the appeal be allowed and the conviction be quashed and the sentence be set aside,” Oswago sought.

While faulting the trial Magistrate Felix Kombo’s decision, Oswago and Shollei said she exceeded her mandate while sentencing them.

They argued that under Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, the penalty provided is a fine of Sh1 million yet the magistrate imposed a fine of Sh5 million and an additional Sh2.5 million on the two counts.