EACC raids homes of top Nyandarua County officials

 

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) officials on Monday raided the homes of senior Nyandarua County officials and the county headquarters. The team is investigating graft linked to a branding tender worth over Sh50 million.

The EACC Central Kenya Coordinator, Mr Charles Rasugu, said the raid was conducted after the agency obtained a search warrant from court.

Nyandarua Governor Francis Kimemia said the EACC was free to conduct its investigations.

 “We welcome the investigators but the process should be done in a way that does not affect the morale of our hardworking staff in a way that makes them feel intimidated. I was not in the office when the raid was done but I have been informed about it, we have nothing to hide, all tender documents and processes are public documents that can be accessed on our website and in the Integrated Financial Management Information System,” he said.

The county boss said the anti-graft officials carried away some documents which could easily have been downloaded from the internet.

Sh700 million

 “We were ranked the best by the World Bank for prudent management of the funds and development projects and awarded Sh700 million that we used to buy the county rural roads construction equipment. We also received a clean audit report by the auditor-general, both are reputable organisations mandated to audit and investigate financial managements, no money was lost in any tender,” said Governor Kimemia.

The governor said the county was also voted the best to invest in by the Kenya Bureau of Statistics. Mr Kimemia said that the devolved unit has continued to attract investors and donations from the World Bank.

 “It is our wish that the investigations are concluded, investors and the donor community are very keen on financial management, my administration invited the EACC to train our staff on financial management and corruption, we are not worried by the visits,” said the governor.

Besides the county offices, the EACC also raided the home of former Finance Executive Mary Mugwanja, who is now the Roads Executive member.

 “Our team has collected some documents to aid us with investigations but we cannot disclose the nature of the documents until we analyse them. We are not doing any arrests, those under investigations are very cooperative,” said Mr Rasugu.

Sacked employees

He said the investigators also raided the home of former Trade CEC Muthoni Wamuiya who has since been sacked.

 “We are also investigating the office of the governor’s secretary, the County Attorney Offices, and companies that were awarded the contract,” said Mr Rasugu.

He said the terms of reference in the court orders is to investigate not to arrest anyone.

 “Ours is basically to search, get the  information and materials, you only arrest one when they resist or something like that, but the targets are very cooperative,” said Ms Rasugu.

Some county staff have accused former employees sacked by the current regime of teaming up with Mr Kimemia's political opponents to discredit his government.   BY DAILY NATION