Economy

EACC directs incoming governors to list assets

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Halakhe Waqo, EACC Chief Executive. FILE PHOTO | NMG

The anti-graft agency has directed incoming governors to take stock of county assets and liabilities to establish if siphoning occurred, a month after the Ministry of Devolution made a similar request to their predecessors.

While not setting timelines for compliance, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) said the county chiefs should make it a priority to put county records in order.

Mid last month, Devolution Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri handed the county chiefs a 30-day ultimatum to set up a special team to oversee transfer of assets and liabilities to their successors.

“The new governors should take stock of county assets and finances as they take office. Any issues raised will be taken over by our officers in accordance with our laid down procedures,” Halakhe Waqo, the EACC chief executive, told journalists on Wednesday.

The EACC had early this month called for the freezing of assets belonging to three governors and their associates on grounds they had amassed wealth in a questionable manner during their tenure.

Governors Mwangi wa Iria (Murang’a), Okoth Obado of Migori and Evans Kidero (Nairobi) are said to have used their positions to register properties in the name of their proxies who were given lucrative tenders.

Dr Kidero lost in the August 8 polls to Senator Mike Sonko Mbuvi who garnered more than 840,000 votes.