Hardly a week after President Uhuru Kenyatta admonished several arms of government over their failure to interrogate and prosecute corruption, Kenya’s anti-graft body and the police yesterday gave dramatically conflicting information on an ongoing graft investigation involving Tharaka Nithi’s Deputy Governor.
Police and Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commissioners (EACC) officers said different things on the same issue. In the process, Sh2 million and a currency printing machine allegedly recovered from an operation carried out in the house of deputy governor’s close ally disappeared.
While Tharaka Nithi police boss Mary Maina said police knew the money had been carted away by EACC officers, the anti-graft agency officially denied knowledge of such recovery.
Detectives from EACC had late on Friday conducted a raid at the Meru town home of Tharaka Nithi Deputy Governor Eliud Muriithi Mati, who two weeks ago accused his bodyguard of stealing Sh3.5 million from him at gunpoint.
Reports indicate that in a hushed-up operation, an eight man team from the EACC headquarters in Nairobi arrived in Meru in two cars and a pick up and proceeded to Mati’s home in Kinoru estate after getting police escort from local officers.
As this was happening, a second team was simultaneously raiding his other house in Tunyai, Tharaka South district in his home county where they also extended the search to homes of two of the deputy governor’s close aides and made some intriguing discoveries.
Police said the raid in Tunyai culminated in recovery of Sh2 million in fake currency as well as a money printing machine. The Tunyai raid targeted Mati and a retired chief known to be the deputy governor’s close ally.
In fact, Ms Maina said although the anti-graft team did not involve the local police in the raid, police were aware that EACC officers had recovered the said monies.
“EACC acted independently. They did not involve us but we know they retrieved Sh2 million from the retired chief’s house, we cannot verify whether they retrieved the said machine there. If we talk about the matter we will infringe their investigations,” she told The Standard on Sunday on the phone.
EACC immediately refuted the police account of events. The anti-graft body insisted no money printing machine or fake currency was recovered. The commission’s Chief Executive Officer, Hallake Wako, said detectives recovered Sh900,000 from a clinic owned by Dr Mati’s wife in Meru town. EACC also said they had recovered what the commission described as “very useful documents” but would not divulge the contents of the said documents.
Useful documents
“At the home, the detectives also recovered some very useful documents that can help us lay a foundation for a very serious corruption case. We shall join the dots then give our recommendations to the DPP,” said Hallake.
Similarly, speaking to The Standard on Sunday, EACC spokesperson Yassin Amaro had also said: “The money that EACC recovered is Sh900,000 from the wife of the deputy governor at her clinic in Meru town. We are not aware of any other recovery. That is our position on this matter.”
A source within EACC said the deputy governor co-operated with the team which went ahead to turn down cabinets in his home allegedly looking for documents that could help in investigations.
By the time of going to press, neither EACC nor the police had revised their account of events in regard to the fake currency and currency printer.
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The deputy governor has been in the news after he accused his former bodyguard, Josphat Kibiegon, of stealing Sh3.5 million from him at gunpoint at his home two weeks ago.
Kibiegon, an Administration Police constable and his girlfriend, Rose Kajira, have since been charged in court.
According to EACC detectives at the regional office in Isiolo, Kibiegon had made a commitment to co-operate with investigators and would most likely be a prosecution witness if charges are brought against Mati.
If police and witness reports are true, the retrieval of the money printing machine and the fake currency is reminiscent of the past hotly contested elections of 1992 and 1997 where hundreds of millions of shillings in fake currency were dished out to party supporters.
In mid-August, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) issued new campaign finance rules limiting spending by political parties, party contributors and aspirants in the forthcoming elections.
Already, stringent banking laws by the Central Bank will make it hard for moneyed politicians to move large amounts of cash during the campaign period as all transactions of Sh1million and above have to be accompanied by detailed paper work of the money trail. Experts say those vying will resort to ingenious ways to beat the system.
County officials have in the recent past been on the spotlight over their lavish lifestyles with many epitomising a grass to grace fairy tale since the beginning of the devolved systems of government.
The IEBC has capped presidential contenders’ spending at Sh5.2 billion, MPs at Sh33 million and governors, senators and women representatives at Sh432 million.
The new rules have also limited political party expenditure during elections to a maximum of Sh15 billion and single-source contributors to political parties to Sh3 billion.
Already, incumbents and aspirants are spending millions in ensuring they have a head start to the polls.
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