Nineteen officials linked to Metropolitan National Sacco Ltd on Tuesday pleaded not guilty before Daisy Mutai to charges of conspiring to defraud the Sacco of over KSh14.4 billion and multiple violations of the Co-operative Societies and Sacco Societies Acts at the Milimani Law Courts.
According to the charge sheet, the accused persons allegedly conspired to defraud the Sacco of KSh14,497,677,664 between 2012 and 2021.
They also face charges of unlawfully authorising the investment of more than KSh1 billion belonging to the Sacco in the purchase of land in Kitengela, Machakos County, which investigators claim was not part of the Sacco’s core business.
Other charges include failure to report proper accounts, failure to maintain accurate books of accounts, failure to maintain mandatory liquid assets, failure to establish a credit committee, failure to appoint an internal auditor and failure to ensure loans issued to members were fully secured as required by law.
The court granted each accused person a bond of KSh200,000 with one surety of a similar amount or an alternative cash bail of KSh70,000 with one contact person.
The magistrate directed that accused persons number 17 and 19, who had not yet been processed by the investigating officer, be processed before release.
Warrants of arrest were also issued against accused persons number 2, 11 and 18 after they failed to appear before court.
During the proceedings, the defence urged the court to grant lenient bail and bond terms, citing the advanced age and medical conditions of several accused persons.
The defence told the court that the first accused is a 61-year-old retired civil servant suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure, while the sixth accused is aged 64 and also suffers from hypertension.
The court further heard that accused persons number 8 and 12 are unemployed and have young families, while accused number 15 suffers from a heart condition.
The prosecution did not oppose the release of the accused on bail and bond terms but requested the court to allow the investigating officer to process accused persons 17 and 19.
In delivering the ruling, Magistrate Mutai said the court had considered the seriousness of the case alongside the constitutional right of the accused persons to be presumed innocent until proven guilty under Article 50 of the Constitution.
The magistrate said the court had also considered the decision in Republic v Frederick Olelema and four others (2016), which outlined factors to be considered when granting bond, including the personal circumstances of accused persons.
The court noted that a majority of the accused persons were elderly and some were visibly unwell in court.
“Even as we look at the weight of the matter, we must balance it with what the Constitution grants as a right for the accused persons to be presumed innocent until proven otherwise,” the magistrate ruled.
The case will be mentioned on June 22 , 2026 for trial directions.
