MATILI TTI UNDER SIEGE: CONTRACTORS, OFFICIALS IMPLICATED IN MULTI-MILLION FRAUD

EoK Reports | Bungoma 

Ramagon Construction Company LTD Directors 

Matili Technical Training Institute in Bungoma County is staring at the brink of collapse following a Ksh 60 million corruption scandal that has triggered investigations by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

At the center of the storm is Ramagon Construction Company Ltd, whose three directors — Abdi Barre Abdi, Hassan Bare Abdi, and Nagenye Mohamud Dahir — have been arrested and are facing a litany of allegations ranging from fraudulent billing to the illegal auctioning of public property.

According to the EACC, the trio is accused of colluding with rogue government officials to manipulate procurement procedures and inflate the cost of a twin workshop complex at the institution. Originally budgeted at Ksh 29.3 million, the contract sum was mysteriously escalated to Ksh 59 million — leading to an overpayment of more than Ksh 22 million for incomplete or undelivered works.

EACC further alleges that Ramagon Construction falsely demanded an extra Ksh 9 million from the government, a move that ultimately led to the controversial auction of a driving school vehicle owned by the institute. The car, valued at Ksh 5.4 million, was sold off for a paltry Ksh 1.2 million.

The suspects were arrested in Bungoma and transported to EACC offices in Nairobi and the Western Region for further interrogation. The anti-graft body has confirmed that it will be forwarding its findings to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), with recommendations for criminal charges and recovery of public funds.

This scandal has cast a long shadow over the future of Matili TTI, which currently serves over 10,000 students. The institution now faces the risk of shutting down as Ramagon reportedly moves to auction more school assets, claiming a disputed Ksh 15 million debt.

EACC maintains that the debt is fabricated and has filed a legal challenge. However, in a recent ruling, Bungoma High Court Judge Rose Ougo declined EACC’s request to halt the ongoing auction process.

In court filings, EACC described how Ramagon Construction obtained a questionable court judgment on January 15, 2024, allegedly through a fraudulent legal maneuver. The judgment, the Commission says, greenlights the seizure of school property despite full contract payments already having been made.

Crucial training equipment, particularly those tied to the driving school program, have already been sold, severely hampering ongoing training activities.

With the stakes now higher than ever, the institution's administrators are banking on an ongoing legal battle to salvage what is left and prevent a total shutdown. Meanwhile, the public and education stakeholders are watching closely, calling for swift justice and systemic reform in public procurement.

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