KACC to name senior State official for trial

By Evelyn Kwamboka

The Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) could name a senior Government official for prosecution on corruption charges today.

Sources at the KACC said the anti-graft watchdog could announce it was handing over file containing a minister’s name for prosecution.

KACC officials declined to reveal the name of the minister or the ministry concerned.

"The name is in the public domain, but we cannot release it because we have in the past been accused of prosecuting suspects through the Press," said a source at KACC.

At the same time, senior officials at the Ministry of Water implicated in the multi-billion-shilling scandal face possible prosecution next week.

Attorney General Amos Wako gave the green light for the prosecution of two senior Tanathi officials over the water scam running into billions of shillings, just a day after a Parliamentary Committee cleared Water Minister Charity Ngilu of any involvement in the scandal.

ORDERS RECEIVED

KACC Spokesman Nicholas Simani confirmed they have received orders to prosecute the two officials but said they would not release the names before the suspects are arraigned in court.

"We received the order and the AG concurred with our recommendations, but we cannot reveal the suspects’ identities at this stage," he said.

The revelations coincide with a major announcement the KACC Director PLO Lumumba is expected to make today.

Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko confirmed issuance of the order for prosecution of two officials but declined to name the first suspects to be charged in connection with the water scandal that led to grilling of Ngilu by the anti-graft body.

"The AG has ordered for the prosecution of two officials but we cannot name them at this stage," he told The Standard. The suspects recorded statements at the KACC offices on Wednesday and the anti-graft body is still waiting for the other to appear before it.

Lumumba has also promised to release another bombshell today over alleged mega corruption in the Ministry of Water and other Government departments.

Sources said those listed include senior officials in Government parastatals and relatives of senior State officials. Former Water Assistant Minister Mwangi Kiunjuri blew the whistle in connection with construction of Umaa Dam and the supply of goods and services at the ministry last year.

This led to a war of words between him and Ngilu, forcing Parliament to issue gagging orders at the request of the chairman of the Lands and Natural Resources committee, Mutava Musyimi.