Don’t come to our offices until summoned, EACC tells listed officials

Ethics and Anti-Corruption center in Nairobi (PHOTO: File)

 

Nairobi, Kenya: The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has told officials mentioned in the list of shame not to visit Integrity Centre until they are summoned.

EACC Chief Executive Halakhe Waqo said a schedule and venue of the order in which the affected individuals will appear before them has been prepared.

“Formal communication to the individuals who have not been interviewed before will be made to each one of them with the week notifying them of the date and time they are required to appear,” said Waqo.

He added there has been a siege at the commission and all manner of speculations as to who is in the report.

“There has been siege at the commission and all manner of speculation as to who is in the report submitted in the National Assembly and their possible culpability,” a statement released by the commission said partly.

“I advise that neither affected persons nor their agents should come to Integrity Centre or other designated commission offices before they are formally invited,” added Waqo.

The move came as a team of more than 100 officials was constituted to determine the way forward on the corruption probes against public officials whose names appear in a confidential list authored by the commission and sent to President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Since the report was made public, a number of the individuals have flocked the EACC offices seeking to know accusations levelled against them.

Among those who have visited include suspended Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei who sought to know his accusations and accusers but was turned away and asked to report back Thursday.

Koskei who was accompanied by five lawyers led by Ochieng Oduol said he was eager to know the allegations since he had never been summoned or questioned by EACC.

“I met the chief investigator seeking to know who the accusers are but he told me they have nothing for now and I should come back on Thursday for the brief and possible statement recording,” said Koskei.

The multi-agency taskforce comprises persons from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) as well as EACC officials who have been handling the cases.

The taskforce was set up during a meeting held between the Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko and Waqo Monday morning at the commission offices in Integrity Centre.

“In the same vein, the Director of Criminal Investigations has been requested to donate a team to the Directorate to bolster the process,” said a statement that was signed by both Tobiko and Waqo.

This follows Kenyatta’s 60-day deadline for the conclusion of the investigations into public officials who include five Cabinet Secretaries.

“The investigating authority must ensure that the Director of Public Prosecutions has received the subject files without delay,” Uhuru directed when he presented the confidential EACC report including their names to Parliament on Thursday.