Anti-graft agency secures the documents that NLC chair and his deputy declared in 2013, 2015 and 2017.
EACC says documents will help the commission conclude investigations into graft allegations against the two.
Mr Swazuri and Ms Mbagaya are alleged to have received kickbacks during compensation for standard gauge railway (SGR) land.
The anti-corruption agency has received copies of wealth declaration forms filed by National Land Commission (NLC) chair Muhammad Swazuri to aid investigations into corruption claims.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has also received from Parliament similar forms filed by deputy NLC chair Abigail Mbagaya.
EACC director of ethics Mohamed Abdi said the documents will help the commission to conclude investigations into graft allegations against the top NLC officials.
Mr Swazuri and Ms Mbagaya are alleged to have received kickbacks during compensation for land where the Mombasa-Nairobi standard gauge railway (SGR) is built.
There were widespread claims that billions of shillings was paid to companies and individuals who did not deserve.
Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi oversaw the handing over of the certified copies of the original wealth declaration forms that are by law kept by Parliament.
The forms were handed to EACC in the presence of Mr Swazuri and Ms Mbagaya, who opened the original documents that were sealed back after copies were taken for certification.
The EACC secured forms that Mr Swazuri and Ms Mbagaya declared in 2013, 2015 and 2017.
Section 30 of the Public Officer Ethics Act, 2013 require that the Clerk of the National Assembly receives and keeps wealth declaration forms from all State officers including President Uhuru Kenyatta and deputy William Ruto.
“For this task, i confirm that the forms will only be used for purposes of furthering ongoing investigations. There will be no witchunt.
“It is out of a complaint we received in 2017 on compensation surrounding the SGR land that was acquired ether from public institutions or private persons,” Mr Abdi told the Powers and Privileges Committee that is chaired by the Speaker.
He said the allegation was that bribes may have been received during the compensation and that to disapprove or confirm the same, “we have to go through this process.”
“Every investigation has objectives. I am not denying other commissioners are not involved. We did a search on the premises of two commissioners (Swazuri and Mbagaya) and there is evidence we got out of the search and to confirm the evidence we got out of the search, we have to compare with what they have declared,” Mr Abdi said.
Confidentiality
Mr Muturi said the information received from public officers in the wealth declaration is strictly kept in absolute confidentiality as required under the Act.
“We keep even for the President, the Deputy President and other State officers and we don’t know what is contained in the wealth declaration forms.
“This is the first time. EACC wrote to us on March 20, 2018. This is the very first case we are receiving from EACC. We wanted to ensure we follow the Act to ensure we don’t breach the law and the Constitution as well as injuring the persons who make the declarations,” Mr Muturi said.
He said the committee is not interested in the nature of investigations but the House is interested in adherence to the law.
Mr Abdi thanked the committee for allowing it access to the original forms, which is usually kept under lock and key by the Clerk.
“We are grateful for committee and commissioners for allowing us access to this forms. it’s not something we take for granted.
“For this kind of lifestyle audit which is an investigative process, the two commissioners are specifically targeted. For this request, it was specific,” Mr Abdi said.
Court order
He said after the EACC secured a court order to search Mr Swazuri and Ms Mbagaya premises, the commission secured some information it now wants to ascertain whether they declared in the wealth declaration forms.
The EACC had written to the clerk on March 20, 2018 requesting certified copies of their wealth declaration forms.
Mr Muturi said after receiving the EACC request, Parliament wrote to Mr Swazuri and Ms Mbagaya informing them of the request.
“We met both Dr Swazuri and Ms Mbagaya last week and they confirmed to us that they have no objection to EACC request to access their wealth declaration forms,” Mr Muturi said.
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