Two Busia County government officers were arrested on Friday and arraigned in Court following a fire outbreak at the County financial office in the Governor’s office premises Wednesday morning.
The duo, Evans Wandera and Paul Anono, who both work in the financial department have been charged before Busia principal magistrate Samson Temu for allegedly starting the fire that destroyed documents in the office on Wednesday at 2 am. They both denied the charges and taken to remand until 2nd October 2019 when the case will be heard.
While denying them bail, Temu said if released they can tamper with ongoing investigations. Their advocates Wycliffe Okuta and Calistus Nuegenye have alleged that the charged levied against their clients are not true since they could not access and burn the office as it is always guarded, “There is no way they could enter the Governor’s compound at night and set that office on fire without being noticed and arrested by security officers who gurad the premises day and night.”
Okuta and Nyegenye have also protested the court’s decision to deny their clients bail saying just as any other suspects, they are entitled to it. The arrest of the two was made after Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission officers raided the County government offices on Thursday, a day after the fire incidence, and checked through various offices for almost four hours before leaving with some documents.