EACC arrests Taita Taveta County Assembly Clerk over Sh17 million corruption

April 26, 2024 Vaseline stjohnson 0

On Friday, April 26, detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) arrested Taita Taveta County Assembly Clerk for his alleged involvement in a Sh17 million corruption scandal.

The arrest followed a High Court ruling in Voi, where a case brought by the secretary against the EACC and ODPP to stop his arrest and prosecution was dismissed.

On April 25, Judge George Dulu refused to grant the orders requested by the county clerk, clearing the way for his prosecution.

The county official is among those accused of fraudulent expenses related to a bonding trip made by 21 MCAs to Zanzibar in 2022.

A photo of the EACC headquarters, at Integrity House in Nairobi.

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EACC

According to EACC detectives, the Commission Investigations established that a total of Sh17 million was fraudulently spent. on a trip out of the country.

Of the amount, Sh9 million was paid directly to the organizers for logistics, while Sh8 million was paid as interest to 30 officials, including 21 MCAs.

“The County Assembly used falsified documents to account for fraudulent expenses. The officials received excessive salaries and some of those who received subsidies did not travel,” EACC detectives said.

Following his arrest, the suspect was escorted to the EACC regional offices in Mombasa for processing pending arraignment.

“The secretary faces corruption charges along with Vice President Mwadime Chao, who has since pleaded not guilty to the charges,” detectives said.

The move comes a day after EACC CEO Twalib Mbarak sent a stern warning to county officials involved in corruption allegations.

Mubarak whileat the Commission workshop, stated that several senior county officials had been placed in the radar of the commission on fraudulent acts, including a governor who also served as a lawyer.

“Yesterday, the noise that one of the people there made was a governor and his county is on our red flag, so you can tell that lawyer and governor that we can end up in his place very soon,” said Twalib Mbraka.

Twalib Mbarak, Executive Director of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC)

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