The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has obtained court orders blocking the payment of over Sh. 6.1 billion to several companies linked to Ben Gethi Wangui, Elizabeth Wangeci Ngugi, and Susan Nyambura Mburu over allegations of fictitious contracts and goods never delivered to the National Youth Service.
Justice Lucy Njuguna of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Court in Nairobi issued temporary orders halting the massive payment pending the full hearing and determination of the case. The orders were granted on December 8, 2025, following an application by the commission.
The investigation was triggered by a report from the Cabinet Secretary for Public Affairs, Gender, Senior Citizens and Special Programs, who requested the commission to verify payment claims totaling approximately 6 billion shillings submitted to NYS by various suppliers.
The companies under scrutiny include Highview Trading, Horizon Limited, Link General, Real Tool Trading, Ratego Technologies, Comptool Trading, Jimchar Enterprises, Liz Link General Suppliers, Newtool Mart Trading, and Tison Limited.
Investigators discovered that these companies, associated with the three main suspects, submitted 277 Local Purchase Orders, delivery notes, and invoices to NYS demanding payment of 6.1 billion shillings for goods allegedly supplied during the 2013-2014, 2014-2015, and 2015-2016 financial years.
However, extensive investigations revealed a sophisticated fraud scheme involving collusion between company owners and NYS officials.
The probe established that NYS officials worked with the companies to falsify critical documents including Local Purchase Orders, Goods Received Notes, Stock Control Cards, and inspection and acceptance forms.
These officials fraudulently signed the documents despite knowing that no deliveries were made to NYS facilities, no inspection exercises were conducted, and no goods were distributed to any NYS units.
Analysis of payment vouchers revealed numerous red flags and irregularities.
Many payment vouchers lacked proper requisitions, while numerous LPOs were not signed by accountants to commit funds as required by the Public Finance Management Regulations of 2015.
Additionally, many LPOs did not bear official NYS stamps, raising immediate suspicions about their authenticity.
A crucial finding showed that 248 LPOs and related forms attached to payment vouchers were counterfeit documents neither printed by the Government Printer nor issued to NYS.
Genuine government documents use a specific flexographic printing process, but the fraudulent ones examined bore computer-type characters, exposing them as forgeries.
Even among the 29 LPOs that were legitimately printed by the Government Printer, investigators found they belonged to batches issued to other government institutions, not NYS.
Some documents also bore dates that preceded when the batches were actually collected from the Department of Finance.
Further examination revealed that delivery notes either failed to specify quantities of goods purportedly delivered or were completely forged to indicate deliveries that never happened. Store records were manipulated with entries made out of chronological order to create false impressions that goods had been received and distributed when this was entirely untrue.
Investigators found glaring inconsistencies between goods allegedly requested by NYS sub-units and what was supposedly distributed from main units. Some payment vouchers even contained Ministerial Tender Committee minutes related to completely different and unrelated procurement proceedings.
The investigation conclusively established that no goods were actually delivered to the National Youth Service. Particularly damning was the discovery that the former Director of Finance, Samwel Mudanyi Wachenje, abused his position by signing 245 out of the 277 fraudulent LPOs despite knowing they were fictitious.
On December 5, 2025, the commission filed proceedings seeking a permanent injunction to prevent NYS from honoring the fraudulent payment vouchers and releasing the 6.1 billion shillings to the defendant companies.
The temporary orders granted three days later now prevent any payments while the case proceeds.
The matter is scheduled for hearing today, December 18, 2025, when the court will determine whether to make the payment freeze permanent.
