Garissa governor threatens to sue anti-corruption agency

Garissa governor Nathif Jama briefs the press on allegations that he has 5 billion shilling in his account flanked by Wiper National Executive Committee members (NEC) led by the deputy party leader Farah Maalim on 3rd JULY 2017 PHOTO DAVID GICHURU

Governor Nathif Jama has threatened to sue the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) for defamation.

This comes after his bank statements showed he did not have Sh5.2 billion in his account as EACC had earlier indicated.

A certified bank statement from First Community Bank showed significant discrepancies from the one used by EACC to obtain court orders to freeze the account Mr Jama insisted did not belong to him.

Jama said that as soon as he got information about the alleged freezing of his account, he contacted the bank and the chief executive officer confirmed that the account under investigation was not his.

The governor presented his bank statement from First Community Bank between January 2015 and May 2015, which is completely different from the one allegedly used by EACC to apply for orders to freeze the accounts.

For instance, the bank statement presented by the governor has a transaction date, a value date and transaction number while the one presented by the EACC has only the transaction date.

Jama's statement

Jama's statement from the bank dated January 1, 2015, shows he had a Sh280,100 balance in his account while the EACC statement shows he had Sh2.8 billion.

In another discrepancy, the bank's statement shows Jama's account had no transactions between July 16 and July 30, 2015, and had a balance of Sh707,647. But the EACC document shows he had Sh3.5 billion in his account after crediting Sh625 million on July 24, 2015.

At the close of the period under EACC investigation, the total balance shown is Sh5.2 billion. But a statement from the bank shows that as at May 15, 2016, Jama had a balance of Sh2,986 in his account.

According to the governor, the county government received a total of Sh5.6 billion from the national government and there was no way he could have siphoned Sh5.2 billion - 84 per cent of the total - to his private account, which he said was non-existent. [Paul O Ogemba and Jennifer Anyango]