RMA Motors Sales Executive James Charles Oduor was the first witness to testify in the Sh791 million NYS scum in regard to a 23 million shillings range rover that is alleged to have been bought with the NYS money.
Oduor who was a state witness told the court that on 17th January 2015 while on duty at RMA motors was approached by a man and a lady who wanted to purchase a black range rover.
He said that the man who introduced himself as ‘Ben’ informed him that he wanted to buy a black range rover with a 5000 cc engine.
“I never got the name of the lady since she never spoke to me. She actually stood at a distance while Ben did all the talking.” Oduor said.
Oduor went ahead to say that he told Ben that they did not have a black range with a 5000 cc capacity at the moment but had one with a 3000cc.
He said that he produced a brochure for the available range rover and showed him that it had enough power to drive around.
Oduor said that after he showed Ben the brochure he made a phone call and said that the person he was calling was the one who would decide if the vehicle will be bought.
Oduor further said that after a while another man came and was introduced to him as John Kago.
“after the introductions, Ben told me that from now I will be dealing with Kago, as he was the one make the decision of purchase,”said Oduor.
Oduor added that Kago wanted to see the available range rover but he could not because it was in a bonded warehouse at Acceler Logistics cargo center at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport
He said that he told Kago that they could not visit the ware house because it was on a Saturday and they agreed to go on January 19, 2015.
That Monday morning Oduor said he called Kago to confirm that the visit to the warehouse was still on and Kago agreed and said they meet at Re-insurance Plaza.
“I picked him at around 10 or 10.30am and we headed to the warehouse and I showed him the vehicle,” said Oduor.
Oduor told the court that Kago asked if he could take photographs of the range with his phone which he was sending to Ben through WhatsApp.
He noted that he confirmed that the photos were being send to Ben because he said Kago showed him a confirmation message from Ben to buy the vehicle.
“Kago asked me the procedure to purchase the range which was totaling to Sh 23,480,000 and he signed the contract,” Said Oduor.
Oduor told the court that the next day Kago brought a bank slip of Sh 10 Million from family bank as deposit of the vehicle and he also signed the registration documents.
He further noted that the the rest of the payment was paid directly to their company bank account at standard chartered bank in two batches on 27th January 2015.
“The first batch was Sh 3.48 Million and the second one was Sh 10 Million,” said Oduor.
Oduor was cross examined by defense lawyer James Wagala before Senior Principal Magistrate Martha Mutuku.
The second witness Wilfred Sang did not show up but is expected to testify later. The case will continue on 14th March 2017.
