KETRACO senior manager's assets worth Sh216.4m frozen

EACC suspects that the suspect might have engaged in corruption to get the disputed wealth. [File, Standard]

The High Court in Nairobi has frozen assets worth Sh216.4 million belonging to KETRACO senior supply chain manager Peter Maina Njehia to allow the EACC investigate how he acquired them.

Justice Esther Maina in her directive dated Thursday, November 24, said the EACC had raised valid reasons warranting the freezing of Njehia's assets to allow probe into their acquisition.

Parcels of land valued at Sh88.9 million, motor vehicles (Sh21.6 million), bank deposits (Sh76.4 million), money in M-Pesa wallet (Sh15.1 million), cash (Sh1 million), SACCO shares (73.9 million) and shares in FEP Holdings (Sh171,400) are among the items under investigation.

The EACC said Njehia's salary from known sources between January 2010 and March 2021, the period he is alleged to have improperly acquired the disputed wealth, was Sh35.8 million.

The anti-graft agency further said that the per diem that Njehia has legitimately pocketed over the said-period was Sh4.5 million.

According to EACC, Njehia's legitimately acquired wealth was Sh40.2 million, yet he had assets and cash totalling Sh278 million.

The anti-graft body now wants him to explain how he acquired the more than Sh216 million extra wealth.

EACC suspects that Njehia might have engaged in corruption to get the disputed assets.

The freeze order remains in place until EACC's case against Njehia is heard and determined, Justice Esther Maina of the Anti-Corruption Court in Milimani, Nairobi directed.

The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited (KETRACO), where the suspects works, operates and maintains high voltage electricity transmission grid and regional power interconnectors.