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Top city Hall official denies demanding Sh6.5m bribe in Taj Mall land sale

By VINCENT AGOYA December 9th, 2016 1 min read

A senior Nairobi City County government official was on Thursday charged with soliciting a Sh6.5 million bribe from a shopping mall owner.

Mr Dennis Paul Manoti — an accountant in the county government’s rates department — denied three charges in the Anti-Corruption Court at Milimani.

The prosecution claims that Mr Manoti received Sh100,000 as downpayment to facilitate the transfer of a disputed plot on Mombasa Road, Embakasi, from Sigma Ltd to Taj Mall.

The first charge states that Mr Manoti demanded a Sh6 million bribe from Mr Rameshchandra Govin to facilitate transfer changes on the plot on November 28.

He was also accused of soliciting a Sh500,000 bribe to make changes on the same property.

The prosecution said Mr Manoti also corruptly received Sh100,000 from Mr Peter Kebaso to effect the transfer of the plot.

The court heard that Mr Govin hired a private investigator to look into what was happening at the rates office after he was denied statements for the 4.2-acre plot, where Taj Mall is built.

According to the prosecution, Mr Govin has been paying land rates to the county government since he bought the property in 2009.

Mr Manoti was released on a Sh500,000 bond or a cash bail of Sh250,000. The case will be mentioned on December 23.