Nicholas Makokha, a senior officer at the National Youth Service , has been linked to two major corruption scandals at the same institution over the past ten years.
The National Youth Service (NYS), is a government body that trains young people and carries out development projects across the country.
Despite repeated accusations of losing large amounts of public money through irregular dealings, Makokha has remained in his position and even received promotions.
Makokha started his career at the NYS as a chief inspector. During the first major scandal that became public in 2015, he was serving as the personal assistant to the then director-general, Nelson Githinji.
Investigations at that time focused on the loss of about 791 million shillings. The money was allegedly paid to companies that supplied no goods or services.
There were also reports of inflated bills from suppliers and other irregular practices. Some officials were accused of owning companies that did business with the NYS and of receiving kickbacks from contractors.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, carried out investigations and sent files to the public prosecutor. Makokha’s name was among those investigated, and he appeared in court several times alongside his boss, Githinji.
However, most of these cases did not end in convictions. In December 2017, the Court of Appeal made a ruling in a separate case involving another government official.
The court said the EACC did not have the required number of commissioners when some charges were filed. As a result, several graft cases, including those linked to the first NYS scandal, were affected.
Githinji left the NYS, but Makokha stayed and continued working.
After the first scandal, Makokha received promotions over time. By March 2025, he had risen to the position of deputy commandant-general in charge of operations and logistics.
This was a senior role at the NYS. Around the same time, reports emerged of another financial problem at the institution. This became known as the third major scandal in ten years at the NYS.
The EACC has been investigating this latest case for more than a year. In this matter, Makokha is accused of acting as a proxy for another NYS officer, David Mbogo, who holds the rank of senior superintendent.
Court documents suggest that Makokha helped Mbogo take 510 million shillings from NYS accounts between January 2017 and March 2025. This is part of a wider investigation into the loss of around 2 billion shillings.
The EACC has said that some officials allegedly used their positions to steal funds through collusion, procurement irregularities, and payments for contracts that did not exist.
In May 2025, the NYS suspended both Makokha and Mbogo for six months without pay while investigations continued. Makokha went to the constitutional and human rights division of the High Court to challenge his suspension. On February 13, the court dismissed his case, saying he had not shown that his rights were violated. Mbogo took his matter to the employment and labour relations court. On March 24, that court ruled in his favour, quashed the suspension, ordered the reinstatement of his salary, and stopped the NYS from taking further action against him until the main case is decided.
The latest scandal also involves other people. Joseph Maina Kagiri, an accountant based at the NYS in Gilgil, is among those under investigation. Mbogo’s two wives, Felista Wanjiru Wandugu and Winfred Cherotich Towett, as well as his brother Elias Muthee, are listed as suspects.
Another pair, Naftaly Kaberu and his wife Florence Muthoni Karanja, are suspected of acting as proxies. Investigators have visited places linked to these individuals, including the Marvel Hotel in Embu County, where Elias Muthee is a director.
The EACC believes the hotel may have been built using money from the scandal.
David Mbogo had earlier appeared as a prosecution witness in cases from the second NYS scandal that surfaced in 2018. That earlier matter involved the loss of about 9 billion shillings overall, with one specific case dealing with 226 million shillings.
During cross-examination, defence lawyers asked Mbogo questions about his wealth, including a property in Ruiru worth around 200 million shillings and several vehicles.
They also asked about payments of 800 million shillings to a firm linked to him in 2016. Mbogo said at the time that his assets came from legitimate business activities. In that second scandal, former Youth Affairs permanent secretary Lilian Omolo and others faced charges, but she was later acquitted.
The EACC carried out raids on homes and offices of several suspects in 2025 as part of the ongoing probe.
The commission described the alleged actions as an abuse of positions of trust to siphon public money.
As of now, the investigations into the third scandal are still continuing, and no final charges have been concluded in court for all the named individuals.
The repeated problems at the NYS have raised serious questions about how public funds are managed in the institution.
The body is meant to support youth development, but the scandals have exposed deep flaws in procurement, oversight, and accountability. Makokha’s career path shows how some officers continued to rise through the ranks even after earlier investigations.
The full outcome of the current investigations will determine the next steps for him and the others named in the probe.
