They say that if you kill using a sword, you will die through the same sword. After close to a year of protracted legal battles in Court, former TNA nominated Senator Joy Gwendo was finally hit hard with a two-year prison sentence.
Gwendo was arrested on January 19th to to face charges of abuse of office and theft of Sh2.2 million after the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) gave consent that she be charged for stealing, issuing a bad cheque and abuse of office in respect of the Sh2.2 million belonging to a cooperative society in Kisumu.
The offences were allegedly committed in October and December 2016.
Today, Anti-Corruption Court chief magistrate Douglas Ogoti handed her a 2-year sentence for failing to honour a plea bargain she entered with the state to pay a Kisumu sacco Sh1.7 million.
Gwedo had pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud following the plea bargain deal with the DPP.
She admitted that she issued a cheque of Sh300,000 in favour of Kisumu East Cotton Growers Cooperative Society through CFC Stanbic Kivuli’s development initiative’s account yet she knew there were insufficient funds.
Gwendo also admitted issuing another cheque on the same day worth Sh950,000. She faced a third count of abuse of office.
On the abuse of office allegation, the former senator admitted that on October 23, 2016, at Chiga parish in Kisumu, she used her position as a state officer to confer herself Sh2,226,880, money which belonged to the sacco.
Ms Gwendo contested for the Kisumu Town East Parliamentary Seat back in 2017 but lost to Hon. Shakeel Shabir who was an independent candidate.
Before running for MP, she was nominated to the Senate by TNA in 2013. Even during her tenure as Senator, Gwendo was not in good terms with locals especially those from Chiga where she hails from with many accusing her of being a cheat and rogue politician.