Waiguru has denied involvement in the scandal and was even defended by State House which said she had not committed any crime in the wake of calls for her suspension. Photo/FILE.
Tobiko has also invited the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission to join the CID detectives who have been investigating the matter after glaring inconsistencies in the probe, including failing to question the CS.
Tobiko says the investigation cannot be deemed to be complete unless Waiguru is questioned because she is the head of the ministry, even though she is the one who asked the CID to open up the probe in June.
“This investigation was commenced by the DCI at the request of the Devolution CS. However, the CS has not recorded a statement regarding this matter — It is important that the CS records a statement,” Tobiko in a statement issued on Friday.
Tobiko said EACC’s involvement in the investigation is critical because crimes committed fall under the Anti Corruption and Economic Crimes Act 2003, Leadership and Integrity Act and the Public Officer Ethics Act which are not within the CID’s mandate.
“The investigation carried out by the CID is limited to offences under the Penal Code,” the DPP’s statement said, “However, the evidence in the file discloses possible offences under Proceeds of Crime and Anti Money Laundering Act, and the Prevention of Organized Crimes Act. These offences have not been investigated.”
Waiguru has denied involvement in the scandal and was even defended by State House which said she had not committed any crime in the wake of calls for her suspension.
In a statement the DPP said although the DCI had attempted to decipher the complex case there were other crucial areas that had been overlooked and which needed to be probed to help trace the Sh791, 385,000 lost between December 2014 and April 2015.
He questioned why the deposits and withdrawals of huge sums of money between bank accounts domiciled at Family Bank, KTDA branch went unreported.
“It is not clear from the file (from CID) how such huge deposits and withdrawals could have been made without the suspect transactions being reported to the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC) and/or the Central Bank of Kenya as required by law,” Tobiko said.
He now wants the Kenya Revenue Authority too involved in the probe to determine if there are tax liabilities incurred in the transactions.
He also directed that the Kenya Revenue Authority be involved to investigate whether there were any tax liabilities incurred.
When the CS announced the findings of the CID probe, she said 21 officers in the Devolution Ministry were recommended to be charged with fraud for allegedly conspiring to defraud the ministry of close to Sh800 million.
The officers were to be charged alongside four suppliers whom they paid Sh791, 385,000 for the supply of road construction and building materials.
Tobiko has questioned why the CID chose to only recommend charges against two of the people questioned while lining the rest as prosecution witnesses, and now wants all questioned afresh.
About The Author
