EACC: Kidero colluded to acquire vast unexplained wealth

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has claimed that former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero acquired vast properties and assets during his tenure as Managing Director of Mumias Company and the city chief.

The commission believes that the Governor colluded with some public officials from Nairobi City County Government and Mumias Sugar Company to defraud the government colossal sums of money.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that indeed Kidero had received tens of millions of shillings into his several bank accounts held in different currencies and frothy that he acquired several assets in Nairobi and elsewhere during his tenure as the Managing Director of Mumias Company Limited and the governor Nairobi City County,” reads court documents.

According to the commission, Kidero has amassed unexplained wealth which is not commensurate to his known legitimate source of income and that, to complete investigations, it was necessary to search his business, offices and residential premises.

EACC, through Investigating Officer Mulki Abdi Umar, also claims that in early 2016, it received several allegations of misappropriation of public funds and illegal acquisition of wealth by Kidero while he served as a Mumias Sugar Company Limited M.D and subsequently Nairobi County Governor.

They claim that bank statements obtained from Kidero’s account at Family Bank reflected large cash deposits on a regular basis quite characteristic of money laundering.

Upon analysis of the said bank account, EACC says, it was noted that between January 27, 2011 and December 31, 2015, Kidero received a sum of Ksh.317 million in cash deposits alone.

The Investigating Officer argues that the transaction in the said bank account led to the discovery of other accounts associated with Kidero.

The commission adds that it was necessary for them to acquire the search warrants to access Kidero’s premises in order to establish the truth or otherwise of allegations of corruption and economic crimes.

“The search warrants were lawfully issued pursuant to section 118 of the Criminal Procedure Code,” states the court documents.

EACC further clarified that on September 20, 2018, it conducted a search in Kidero’s Muthaiga residential premise, offices located in Eldama Park along Peponi Road/Eldama Ravine and Milimani residential House, Kisumu.

The commission also says that pursuant to its statutory mandate to investigate corruption and economics crimes, they commenced investigations into the allegations and reports made against Kidero.

This was in response to a case in which Kidero has sued EACC and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) over a search recently conducted at his home.

Kidero claims that since he exited politics he has been on the receiving end of “threats, attacks, harassment, witch-hunt and intimidation by the EACC and DPP.”

In court documents, Kidero says that he is a man of fair means who has accumulated his wealth gradually over the course of years since his first employment back in 1983.

According to the politician, EACC has resorted to intimidating his family members in a bid to “touch him where it hurts most and make his family members, friends and associates shun him in violation of his rights.”

Kidero further claims that the said search warrant is “unconstitutional, defective and ought to be quashed,” further arguing that EACC has no jurisdiction to investigate the affairs of Mumias Sugar Company as the said company is private and not a public entity.

He says that the warrant was obtained without following due procedure, adding that he was not granted any notice before the warrant was obtained to search his premises.

Through his lawyer, Prof. Tom Ojienda, Kidero argues that the search warrant was abused as EACC confiscated properties that he had acquired as early as 1987 yet the alleged period of investigations was between the time he was the Managing Director of Mumias Sugar Company.