A year after Former Youth Enterprise Development Fund boss Catherine Namuye’s body was discovered in her apartment in Kileleshwa, Nairobi, another Former Youth Enterprise Development Fund Chairman Bruce Odhiambo is dead.
Odhiambo died on Tuesday morning at the Nairobi Hospital Intensive Care Unit after a long battle with cardiac ailments.
Ms Namuye and former Youth Enterprise Development Fund chairman Bruce Odhiambo were charged with 12 counts of corruption in relation to the loss of Sh180 million of taxpayers’ money.
Ms Namuye and Mr Odhiambo were, in August 2016, alongside the directors of Quorandum Ltd, Mukuria Ngamau and Doreen Waithera, charged with the offences.
Ms Namuye and Mr Odhiambo are alleged to have received Sh 4.5 million and Sh 1.8 million in kickbacks from Quorandum that prosecutors said they had “reasons to believe was corruptly acquired from the Youth Enterprise Development Fund.”
The prosecution said between November 17, 2014 and May 4, 2015 in Nairobi, the suspects conspired to defraud the public through “unlawful payment of Sh180,364,789 from the Youth Enterprise Development Fund to Quorandum Limited for services not rendered.”
Ms Namuye denied a charge of abuse of office which stated that while acting as the chief executive, she executed an underhand contract between the Youth Enterprise Development Fund and Quorandum amounting to Sh114,909,000 for alleged provision of consultancy services dubbed “The Design of Specifications for an Enterprise Resource Planning.”
President Uhuru Kenyatta formally revoked the appointment of Bruce Odhiambo as Youth Enterprise Development Fund chairman following the loss of KSh 180 million from the fund.
Bruce Odhiambo passes on making him the 3rd person at the helm of Youth Fund scandal to die after Catherine Namuye; both died of heart related complications & the fund’s driver who was also found murdered at a pool in Mombasa. RIP
— Kenya West© (@KinyanBoy) January 8, 2019
Ms Namuye’s lifeless body was discovered in her apartment on a Wednesday morning in October 2017 soon after screams had been heard from the house, neighbours and police said.
Those who responded there included a Member of Parliament who is her neighbour. They said they found the immobile body minutes after the sound emanated from the house and called an ambulance.
Ms Nambuye was pronounced dead at the house by medics who arrived in the ambulance. Police suspect heart attack as the cause of the death.
As for Mr Odhiambo who was also an accomplished music producer at Johari Clef had been admitted at the Nairobi Hospital’s ICU unit after suffering a massive heart attack last Saturday.
He had been suffering from heart-related complications over the years and had constantly sought treatment abroad.
In October of 2018, he had flown to India to have his pacemaker replaced but developed complications after he began new medication upon his return to Kenya.
A source close to the late says that Mr Odhiambo had been admitted to hospital during Christmas after his blood pressure went too low.
Medics were unable to perform a dialysis since his heart was too weak and his unstable BP affected the functioning of his pacemaker.
May they rest in peace.