Turkana County official, company director arrested over Sh2.76m contract

Integrity Centre that hosts the EACC offices in Nairobi. [File, Standard]

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has arrested a Turkana County official and a company director over an alleged conflict of interest in a Sh2.7 million contract.

Gilbert Suleiman Eskuku, a registered nurse employed by the County Government, and Abass Abdi Yusuf, his co-director at Ekwang Suppliers Company Limited, were arrested over an alleged conflict of interest in the award of county contracts, resulting in payments amounting to Sh2,763,681.

According to a statement by the EACC, the arrests follow investigations into the alleged irregular award of contracts to the company by the County Government of Turkana between 2017 and 2021.

The commission added that investigations established that Gilbert Suleiman Eskuku, while serving as a county employee, used Ekwang Suppliers Company Limited, of which he was a director alongside Abass Abdi Yusuf, to secure contracts and receive payments from the County Government.

"Investigations further established that Eskuku immediately withdrew the payments in cash to conceal the source of the funds," EACC said.

"Upon conclusion of investigations, the Commission forwarded the inquiry file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), who approved the prosecution of the two suspects and the company," the Commission's statement added.

The suspects will face charges including conflict of interest, money laundering and acquisition of proceeds of crime.

The two suspects are being processed at the EACC North Rift Regional Office in Eldoret pending arraignment before the Anti-Corruption Court on Thursday, 15 October 2026.

The Commission added that, in addition to the criminal proceedings, it will institute civil proceedings to recover public funds and seek the forfeiture of assets established to have been acquired from the proceeds of crime.

"The Commission calls upon all state organs and public entities to strengthen compliance with the Conflict-of-Interest Act, 2025, by instituting effective measures for the declaration, management and prevention of conflict of interest among public officers," EACC said.