Trans-Nzoia County Governor George Natembeya was on Monday morning arrested by The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission over the alleged misappropriation of County funds.
After the arrest by EACC officers in Nairobi, the Trans-Nzoia County Chief was presented at the EACC headquarters at Integrity center in Nairobi to record a statement. This is according to Natembeya’s lawyer Ndegwa Njiru, who informed the press that the officers at the EACC denied lawyers access to see the governor saying it’s against the law.
According to The Ethics and Anti-Corruption commission, the arrest was as a result of allegations of irregular procurement and fictitious payments of Kes 1.4 billion by senior Trans-Nzoia County Government officials.
EACC said that after obtaining search warrants, they conducted searches at the residences and offices of Governor George Natembeya and four others in relation to alleged irregular procurement and fictitious payments of kes 1.4 billion.
The EACC says the investigation is focusing on three major projects that were awarded by the county government of Trans-Nzoia.
The first one is the rehabilitation and modernization of Kenyatta stadium [phase1A] awarded to Parbat siyan construction limited.
The second one was the construction of Trans-Nzoia County headquarters offices awarded to CM construction company Limited. The third project of investigation focus is the construction of Tom Mboya Hospital, a tender awarded to session Blue Contractors Limited.
The EACC further says that Governor Natembeya is alleged to have influenced the award of tenders and received kickbacks from contractors through proxies.
The persons whom EACC is interested in include Governor George Natembeya, the governor of Trans-Nzoia County, Chief Officer for finance Emmanuel Masungo, Chief Officer for water Dorothy Nyukuri, procurement officer Eliyah Liambula, Desmond Shivachi, a contractor and proxy to the Governor.
Following the arrest of Governor George Natembeya, there have been massive demonstrations across the streets of Kitale in Trans-Nzoia County as the supporters of the County Chief demanded his immediate release.
