CCTV cameras were off the night a finance office went up in flames

The night an office in the Finance department in Busia County went up in flames, the Close Circuit Television Cameras (CCTV) were not functioning.

Armed police officers who manned the county government headquarters were also conspicuously missing. Only private security guards were on duty that night.

The revelations were made by the Acting Director of Disaster Management Joseph Ekisa during the hearing of the case in which two county staff were charged in connection with the arson attack.

The office that razed in September housed payment files, including documents showing that the finance department had already paid suppliers and contractors.

Director of Finance Paul Onono and an accountant Evans Wangata were arrested and charged. Mr Ekisa presented to the court a report of an internal investigation that his department conducted over the inferno.

He told Principal Magistrate Samson Temu that the probe did not implicate the accused as the masterminds of the fire that razed the office.

According to Mr Ekisa, Onono and Wangata were not at the scene of the fire when he arrived together with firefighters to put out the fire.

“It was impossible to determine who started the fire or what could have caused the fire,” said Ekisa.

He continued, “The grill of the office that was burning was intact. We used an axe to break into to gain access into the office and put out the raging fire.”

“It is total negligence on the person who was supposed to ensure that CCTV cameras are functional, armed police officers man the premise and security lights are on,” said Ashioya.