Former Agriculture cabinet secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri is being investigated over money laundering allegations, it has emerged.
A Magistrates Court has allowed Assets Recovery Agency to probe Mr Kiunjuri’s accounts at Equity Bank. The bank will be required to surrender account opening documents, statements of accounts, cheque deposits, withdrawal slips and electronic cash transfers.
“That the honourable court be pleased to issue orders to investigate and inspect the books of accounts related to the following bank accounts domiciled at Equity Bank in the name of Mwangi Kiunjuri and any other account,” ARA said in a petition to the court.
The investigations are linked to the recent developments where the bank accounts and assets of Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua were frozen, after it emerged that he received over Ksh5.8 billion from state agencies.
Read: Mwangi Kiunjuri Unveils New Party Months After Uhuru Dropped Him From Cabinet
Some of the payments were received from National Irrigation Board which was under Kiunjuri’s ministry, before it was moved to the Ministry of Water.
Other payments received by the MP emanated from Ministry of Lands (Kenya Informal Settlements Programme), State Department for Special Planning, Ministry of Health, Bungoma County government, Mathira Constituency Development Fund and Nyeri County government.
ARA will also investigate accounts for Petlico Agencies Company Ltd, Karandi Farm Ltd, Skytop Agencies, Riang International Group, Encartar Diagnostic Ltd and Beth Wacheri Wacunga, suspected to have been recipients of stolen cash.
Kiunjuri was sacked from the cabinet early this year after falling out with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
On the day that President Uhuru Kenyatta sacked Kiunjuri in January this year, the former CS told his supporters to remain calm as he was “going nowhere”.
Kiunjuri was the leader of the Grand National Union (GNU) party that merged into the ruling Jubilee party in 2016 ahead of the 2017 General Elections.
He is a close ally of Deputy President Dr William Ruto.
Kiunjuri contested the Laikipia Gubernatorial seat in 2013 using the party but lost to Joshua Irungu.
In 2015, Kiunjuri made a comeback to government after he was appointed the Cabinet Secretary for Devolution and Planning to replace Anne Waiguru who resigned after graft accusations.
President Uhuru moved him from the Devolution docket to Agriculture in 2018 where he served until his sacking on January 14, 2020.
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