EACC officials raid Wajir County offices in graft probe
Wajir governor's office. EACC detectives raided the Wajir County government offices on January 23, 2019 in an ongoing investigation. PHOTO | BRUHAN MAKONG | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- EACC spokesman Yassin Amaro said the Wednesday raid was aimed at gathering additional information in the ongoing graft probe.
- He said that their officers also managed to stop a fresh corruption incident that was in progress in the county.
- It is not the first time that the anti-graft agency has carried out investigations in the county.
Detectives from the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC) have raided the Wajir County government offices in an ongoing investigation.
EACC spokesman Yassin Amaro said the Wednesday raid was aimed at gathering additional information in the ongoing graft probe in county.
“Wajir County has been under investigations for over a year and today our officers went to collect more information that is related to the ongoing corruption cases,” he said.
But he could not divulge more details regarding the cases, saying that the matter is still under investigations.
FRESH INCIDENT
Mr Amaro further said that their officers also managed to stop a fresh corruption incident that was in progress in the county.
“I have also learnt that there were allegations of fresh corruption in the county which our officers managed to interrupt during today’s raid,” he said.
“You would think that people [will] stop engaging in corruption after seeing what had earlier happened but it seems they haven’t learnt a lesson from previous arrests and our officers are currently looking into the issue,” he added.
But he did not specify the nature of the fresh corruption allegation saying that would alert the perpetrators.
The detectives who came from Nairobi spent over one hour at the county secretary’s office.
OFFICES CLOSED
A spot check by the Nation revealed that the county treasurer’s office and finance offices remained closed all through the period while other senior county employees kept away as business was brought to a standstill.
It is not the first time that the anti-graft agency has carried out investigations in the county.
Late last year, the EACC made a series of arrests that saw senior county officials arraigned over embezzlement of public funds.
Wajir County has been on the spot over allegations of corruption and misuse of public funds in the recent months.
This latest probe comes some days after a report from the Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo revealed that some counties spend zero funds on development projects.
