Ongwae rejected board advice, former Kebs chairperson tells court

Former Managing Director of Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) Charles Ongwae (pictured) was yesterday accused of failing to comply with advice from the board over the importation of substandard goods.

Senior Counsel Mugambi Imanyara who is a former chairman at KEBS told Milimani Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina that he, being the chairman of the board, had directed that some fake stamps were being used to import large amounts of goods that entered the country between 2015 and 2018.

While being cross-examined by Ongwae’s lawyer Nelson Osiemo, Imanyara told the court that he advised Ongwae to carry out tests to ascertain and weed out fake stamps.

“Your honour I advised Ongwae to test stamps after receiving information from my informer that there are stamps pinned on some substandard goods in the market,” said Imanyara.

Questionable stamps

He told the court that he also reported the matter to the DCI after Ongwae failed to respond to his email about the questionable stamps.

He said that he called Ongwae and urged him to take action to remedy the situation but his advice was not taken seriously. He said he took it upon himself and reported the matter to the DCI, who later commenced investigations and established that the stamps that were being used on imported goods were fake and lacked security features.

Ongwae is charged alongside Eric Kiptoo and Raymond Michuki with abuse of office and neglect of official duties.