Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi has been summoned by MPs over an alleged Ksh15 billion loan that was offered to Deputy President William Ruto’s ally Harun Aydin.
Mwangi is scheduled to appear before the National Assembly Committee on Finance and Planning on Wednesday, to shed light on the loan allegedly given to the Turk who was deported after being linked to terror and money laundering activities.
Ruto claimed that he made a phone call to Equity Bank to facilitate the loan for Mr Aydin to set up a vaccine manufacturing plant in Uganda.
“The purpose of this letter is to invite you to a meeting with the committee scheduled for August 25 in the mini-chamber,” reads a letter by the committee chaired by Homa Bay Woman representative Gladys Wanga.
Read: CS Matiang’i Dismisses Claims Gov’t Apologized for Deporting DP Ruto’s Turkish Associate Harun Aydin
The MPs will be seeking to know whether the bank adhered to section 43 of the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-money Laundering Act while advancing the loan to Mr Aydin.
Also, the committee will seek understanding onwhether Mr Aydin holds or operates any accounts with Equity Bank and the particulars on the security used to guarantee the Ksh15 billion credit.
During his arrest, Aydin was in the company of a Ugandan businessman, Paul Bamutaze, who was also arrested and later deported to Kampala by road.
Read: Mixed Reactions as DP Ruto Vents Over Arrest of Turkish Associate Aydin Harun
Bamutaze has apparently filed a case at the East African Court of Justice over remarks by ODM politicians against Uganda’s ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).
Ruto claimed that Aydin was a victim of bad politics and not a terrorist.
He alluded that the businessman, who has a valid Kenyan work permit, was being frustrated by top government officials over links with him.
Harun was among businessmen and politicians who were scheduled to travel with Ruto in an aborted private trip to Uganda.
Harun and the rest of the delegation that included MPs Sudi, Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu) and Benjamin Tayari (Kinango) were allowed to travel while Ruto was blocked by immigration officials over ‘clearance issues’.
Others in the entourage were Mombasa-based businessman David Lang’at, Elijah Rono and Eric Ruto.
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