The commission CEO Halakhe Waqo on Tuesday said their offices had been deluged with enquiries following the presentation of the report. Photo/ FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 31 – The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has directed the public officials named in the corruption report that President Uhuru Kenyatta presented to Parliament on Thursday not to visit their offices without prior invitation.
The commission CEO Halakhe Waqo on Tuesday said their offices had been deluged with enquiries following the presentation of the report and it has therefore prepared a schedule and venue where those to be questioned will appear before it.
“Following the State of the Nation address by his Excellency, there has been a siege at the Commission and all manner of speculations as to who is in the report submitted in the National Assembly and their possible culpability,” Waqo said in a statement sent to newsrooms on Tuesday morning.
The report was later made public in Parliament on Tuesday but Waqo said they would still formally inform those, “who have not been interviewed before,” and within the week notify them of when and where they will be required to answer the commission’s questions.
Among those who denied any knowledge of being investigated by the EACC are suspended Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei who made his way to the commission on Monday in the company of five lawyers to make an enquiry but he was turned away with instructions to return on Thursday.
READ: CS Koskei told to relax, he’ll know why he is a wanted man
The governors of Nairobi, Bomet and Turkana, Evans Kidero, Isaac Ruto and Josphat Nanok respectively, had also made the same claim.
Once the report was made public however, it emerged that Koskei is being investigated on suspicion of illegally, secretly, awarding sugar importation permits contrary to COMESA rules and demanding bribes from parastatal heads.
READ: Agriculture CS accused of demanding bribes from parastatal chiefs
Waqo has however assured all those identified as persons of interest in the report of expeditious investigations.
On Monday he announced that a taskforce comprised of members from the commission, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Directorate of Criminal Investigations had been formed to fast-track the investigations into the public officials named in the status of corruption report they submitted to President Kenyatta.
READ: Tobiko, CID and EACC form team to probe Uhuru list
President Kenyatta on Thursday gave the Commission 60-days to investigate the members of his Executive adversely mentioned in the report and who include five cabinet secretaries who have since stepped aside so as not to interfere with the EACC probe.
Once investigations are complete, the DPP is to determine the prosecutability of the cases but Waqo stated on Monday that a majority of the investigations are either complete or at an advanced stage.
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