Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC) detectives this morning raided the homes and offices of Kirinyaga governor Anne Waiguru in Kerugoya and Nairobi, and carted away crucial documents in renewed graft investigations.
Reports indicate that the early morning raid caught the governor by surprise, who has been facing graft allegations and abuse of office from Kirinyaga MCAs.
EACC Central Regional Manager Charles Rasungu had on June 10 hinted on the case, saying that one of the investigation involves a number of tenders allegedly influenced by the governor.
This comes a couple of months after Kirinyaga MCAs filed a motion to impeach governor Waiguru on the basis of gross violation of the Constitution, abuse of office and gross misconduct.
Read: Governor Waiguru Grilled For 8 Hours By EACC Over Ksh10 Million Imprest
The governor was also accused of using her office to improperly confer a benefit to herself when she was irregularly paid for travel allowances by way of imprests amounting to Ksh10.6 million yet she did not travel.
She was also accused of influencing tender awards in the county, awarding them to his cronies and relatives.
Acquitting the governor in June, the Senate Select Committee that was investigating impeachment motion against her found that there was gross mismanagement of tenders in the county. The committee however said that it could not link the governor to the mismanagement of the tenders.
Instead, the committee recommended that the officers who constituted the committees that mismanaged the tender step aside and the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and EACC investigates the matter.
There were two overly mentioned officers in the graft allegations who include the governor’s former PA Ms Pauline Kamau and Mr Gichira Wayne.
Read: Not Yet Over For Governor Anne Waiguru As Anti-graft Agency Comes Knocking
“The Committee notes that in the documents filed and during the hearing, the County Assembly did not draw a nexus between the Governor and the appointment of either Ms Pauline Kamau or Mr Gichira Wayne to a tender committee. Indeed, Mr Carilus Otieno, as the head of the county procurement unit, confirmed that the Governor had not taken part in the formulation of any tender committee,” the report tabled in Senate noted.
However, the Committee noted that the circumstances under which Pauline Kamau was recruited raised a lot of questions. Ms Pauline Kamau, according to the findings, was not qualified to hold the office of Director of Administration and further that her recruitment was pushed through by the Governor.
