EACC distances itself from Arror, Kimwarer dams scandal probe

The anti-corruption agency has distanced itself from the investigations and subsequent prosecution of suspects in the multibillion-shilling Kimwarer and Arror dams scandal.

In a clear dig at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) told a committee of the Senate it had nothing to do with the investigations that saw former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich facing criminal charges related to the scandal.

Initially, Mr Rotich and then Treasury Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge were arrested and charged with the scandal in which the public lost more than Sh63 billion.

At some point, however, Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji terminated the case against Dr Thugge after the latter became a state witness.

Yesterday, senators expressed dissatisfaction with the move, warning it was a deliberate ploy by the state to throw away the case as a CS does not bear legal responsibility for financial matters.

“The move does not make legal sense,” Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Junior said.

“In strict financial terms, the PS is the person who is authorised to incur expenditure. He is the one who signed off the release of funds and is ultimately responsible under the law. The case is going nowhere in a strict legal sense,” he added.

The anti-corruption agency’s vice-chairperson Sophia Lepuchirit clarified that after initial investigations, the matter was taken up by the DCI.

“EACC had nothing to do with the investigations. We have also discussed among ourselves how the PS, who has the authority to incur expenditure, was let off while a CS, who has no financial portfolio, is still facing charges,” she said.

The commission has over the past five years concluded 1,000 investigations on corruption and related offences, out of which 275 have been finalised, 169 of them resulting in a conviction.

Assets worth approximately Sh25 billion have been recovered and surrendered for public benefit and loss of approximately Sh30.4 billion averted through proactive investigation and disruption of corruption networks in the same period.

The commission is also pursuing forfeiture of approximately Sh25 billion by public officers found to own unexplained wealth.

In the last five years, the commission has approved applications by 560 public officers to operate bank accounts outside Kenya while compliance with regard to submission of wealth declarations by public officers was well over 97 per cent in the 2017 and 2019 declaration years.

The EACC has also reviewed codes of conduct and ethics for more than 70 per cent of Responsible Commissions to ascertain conformity with the Leadership and Integrity Act and processed 258,676 self-declaration forms submitted to it in line with the law.

The high-impact cases the commission has concluded include allegations of illegal and unexplained wealth against former governors Ferdinand Waititu, Mike Sonko and Evans Kidero, as well as Samburu’s Moses Lenokulal, all amounting to Sh11.5 billion.

It has also completed investigations into various corruption offences amounting to Sh1.2 billion involving nine former and current governors of Tharaka-Nithi, Nairobi, Kiambu, Garissa, Samburu, Busia, Migori and Nyandarua, all of which are pending in court.

The commission’s CEO Abdi Mohamed told the committee that, unlike other agencies, the commission’s mode of investigations is professional.

“We have developed a policy document that guides our investigation process. It’s systematic in a well-guided process. Our cases are watertight and can stand the test of time,” he said.