Eight senior officials at the County Government of Turkana who were charged with conspiracy to steal Sh42 million through illegal tenders are still in office despite a court order barring them from the same.
The accused are Joseph Emate (Chief Officer Finance), Richard Emou (Director Procurement), Mark Ewesit (Chief Officer, Lands, Physical Planning and Urban Areas Management), Francis Esimit, an accountant, Lomowe Shakespear (Director Revenue) and Peter Lobali, an accountant. Also charged are James Ekaran (accountant) and Naweed Akaran, who is the director of Winston International Company Limited.
The case dates back to between December 2015 and November 2016 in Lodwar Town where they reportedly conspired to steal Sh42 million from the county government through illegal tenders.
Read: Ex-Ministry of Education Staffers Handed 7-year Jail Terms in Graft Case
In a ruling by Justice Mumbi Ngugi in July 2019, public officials including governors were directed to step aside and vacate their offices to pave room for investigations of economic crimes they are charged with.
However, according to a local publication, the eight officials are still in office and running programs as usual.
This has been confirmed by the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission (EACC) spokesperson Yasssin Amaro who intimated that the matter will be raised in court in the next hearing.
“The matter has been brought to our attention that those officials are still operating from their respective offices, which is against the bail terms. We will definitely take the matter up. We will investigate and we shall raise the issue before the court,” he said.
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