CID seeks Tobiko’s help in Ngilu case

By Cyrus Ombati

The Criminal Investigations Department has asked the Director of Public Prosecutions to guide them in a case in which Water Minister Charity Ngilu has refused to be questioned by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) after claims she threatened an official.

Ngilu refused to go to EACC and instead went to CID after being summoned by the former.

Officials at CID revealed director Ndegwa Muhoro had forwarded a file they had opened on the probe to Mr Keriako Tobiko’s office.

"The DPP will guide us on who should now probe the case because the CID has received a complaint over the same while EACC wants to start," said an insider.

Phone call

The minister had last Monday visited CID headquarters over the issue and complained of harassment from the EACC.

EACC had asked Mrs Ngilu to appear before its detectives at Integrity Centre on Wednesday to be questioned over a phone call she allegedly made on August 29 to threaten one of its investigators.

The officer in question, who had concluded investigations into the procurement for services for the Emergency Drought Programme projects in Makueni and Machakos districts, was allegedly threatened for inviting top ministry officials for questioning at Integrity Centre.

The commission said its latest summons was the last opportunity for the minister to appear voluntarily for questioning.

Snubbed summonses

Ngilu has snubbed two such summonses this month. "Failure to honour the summon will force the commission to take other appropriate actions," the commission said in statement signed by Protocol Officer Nicholas Simani.

Mr Simani didn’t specify the action that the commission was considering but cited Section 66 (2) of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act which states that any person found guilty of "obstructing, hindering, assaulting or threatening" is liable to a fine not exceeding Sh500,000 or a jail term of five years, or both.

Ngilu had on Monday presented herself to CID officers in a move seen as a deliberate attempt to defuse tension with the anti-graft body.

However, the commission sought to dissociate itself from statements recorded by the minister at the CID headquarters.

"The CID (officers) have no jurisdiction to enforce the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act. Reporting to CID is not honouring the summons to report to the commission which is the primary institution conducting the inquiry," read the EACC statement.