Samburu Governor homes searched in Sh2bn tender probe

What you need to know:

EACC Wednesday descended on the governor’s homes in Samburu and Nairobi, recovering files related to expenditure in the last four years.
The investigators also raided a home of the Governor’s personal assistant Simon Etiene Lelesit, Samburu county speaker Solomon Lempere, top county officers and contractors who were allegedly awarded contracts irregularly by the county.

Anti-corruption watchdog detectives Wednesday raided the homes and offices of Samburu Governor Moses Lenolkulal over claims of irregular awards of Sh2 billion contract.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) descended on the governor’s homes in Samburu and Nairobi, recovering files related to expenditure in the last four years.

The investigators also raided a home of the Governor’s personal assistant Simon Etiene Lelesit, Samburu county speaker Solomon Lempere, top county officers and contractors who were allegedly awarded contracts irregularly by the county.

In Samburu, staff working at Mr Lenolkulal’s office and the county treasury were denied access to their offices as other officers also raided his residential home in Maralal town.

The EACC is probing claims of possible collusion between the top county officials and the contractors in the awards of Sh2 billion contracts.

“The EACC conducted searches in the residences and offices of top officers of the Samburu County government,” said EACC Chief executive Twalib Mbarak in a statement yesterday.

“The searches are in furtherance of investigations that the commission has been carrying out which have revealed that the county has lost over Sh2 billion in the last four years,” he said. Preliminary investigations according to the EACC, reveals that county officials registered companies that were awarded contracts worth over Sh700 million while no work was done.

Huge chunks of the money was withdrawn in cash and allegedly shared out among various county officials.

In other cases, contractors are alleged to have been irregularly awarded tenders worth over Sh1 billion for work partly or never done, after which they paid kickbacks to top county officers.

Investigators further claim the officers under investigation invested the money in real estate development. “Besides filing criminal charges upon completion of the investigations, the Commission has immediately commenced a process of freezing and forfeiture of the assets in order to recover public funds lost at the County,” said Mr Mbarak.