Nairobi, Kenya: The Chickengate scandal suspect Trevor Oyombra and electoral commissioner Yusuf Nzibo were yesterday questioned for hours by the anti-graft agency.
The interrogation took place ahead of the submission of the probe file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Keriako Tobiko.
Mr Nzibo spent the better part of yesterday at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission’s (EACC) offices for what officials said was checking of facts. He arrived there at 10am.
Nzibo, now at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, served in the defunct Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC).
Mr Oyombra arrived at the commission’s offices at about 11am on Tuesday and spent almost six hours with the detectives who said they were making final touches to the file with “serious recommendations” before forwarding it to the DPP.
Officials said Oyombra, who was accompanied by his lawyers, was there for clarifications.
Legal Assistance
Also summoned were procurement officials at the adversely mentioned departments of IIEC and the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec).
EACC Chairman Philip Kinisu said an analysis of the case involving IIEC and Knec officials and a British firm would be forwarded to the DPP.
“We have received a report on mutual legal assistance from British authorities through the office of the Attorney General and the information on the Chickengate case is being processed. In the next two weeks, the recommendations will be forwarded to the DPP,” Mr Kinisu said.
Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) handed the documents to the Attorney General last month.
EACC has been asking for more time, saying they were waiting for evidence from SFO as it was being accused of dragging its feet.
Sources said the move by the SFO to hand in the documents had caused panic in some quarters.
The dossier includes the data used by British authorities to jail and fine directors of a printing firm, Smith & Ouzman, for paying out bribes, code-named chicken, totalling Sh59 million to electoral and examination officials.
The data used to crack the case was retrieved from email exchanges between the printers and the Kenyan officials, shipping invoices and local purchase orders used in procurement to demonstrate their case.
EACC has so far interrogated, among others, IEBC Chairman Issack Hassan, IIEC commissioner Davis Chirchir and CEO James Oswago and former Knec boss Paul Wasanga.
Hassan has previously defended himself in a statement, saying the British officials were convicted of crimes committed a year before IEBC was formed.