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DPP Noordin Haji (right) hands over a Sh2bn cheque to Treasury CS Ukur Yattani. the money is part of corruption proceeds seized in the past two years.

Capital Health

ODPP channels Sh2 billion graft proceeds to COVID-19 Emergency response Fund

NAIROBI, Kenya  Apr 7 – The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has handed over Sh2.2 billion to the coronavirus government’s emergency fund to support efforts to contain the virus and mitigate its impact on the economy.

The Sh2.2 billion is part of Sh2.9 billion held by the public prosecutor having been seized over the last two years in anti-graft efforts,  DPP Noordin Haji said.

DPP Noordin Haji (right) hands over a Sh2bn cheque to Treasury CS Ukur Yattani. the money is part of corruption proceeds seized in the past two years.

“We had some funds jointly as the multi-agency task force that works on corruption that we had collected with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC), we had roughly 2.9 billion collected over the last two months,” he said, “we have allocated Sh 2 billion towards the COVID emergency fund to combat the pandemic.”

Kenya has so far reported 172 coronavirus infections and six deaths, including a Kenya Airways pilot and a 6-year-old boy. The virus has shuttered the economy, with tougher times ahead after President Uhuru Kenyatta imposed travel restrictions to and from Nairobi, Kwale, Kilifi and Mombasa which have the highest numbers in the national tally.

President Kenyatta last week set up the emergency response fund to mobilise resources for an emergency response towards containing the spread, effects and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the funds will be obtained from Kenyans of goodwill, corporates and multinational institutions

So far, the fund has received donations from Cooperative Bank, Devki Group, World Bank and other multinational institutions.

Treasury  Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani who also attended the presentation ceremony said the government had received pledges totaling Sh7  billion from individual donors which will be directed towards the fund.

Yattani said the government is working hard to re-align the budget and is also revising the supplementary budget to ensure Kenyans are catered for.

EACC chief, Twalib Mbarak said his office will be working with the DPP and Treasury to ensure the funds are utilized properly to protect Kenyans against the impact of the global pandemic.

Yattani further said the Interior Ministry was in the process of creating a database of workers in urban areas that rely on daily wages to see how they can be supported through various social protection measures targeting vulnerable people in the society.

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“We have a list and names of people considered vulnerable, we are also working with interior ministry to find out those workers in urban areas to see how they can be supported in these times,” he said.

While setting up the fund, Kenyatta instituted a board of 11 members from the private sector and two government representatives, Interior CS Fred Matiang’i and Governor Wycliffe Oparanya. The board is chaired by East African Breweries Limited Managing Director Jane Karuku.

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