Senators accuse EACC of stalling corruption cases against governors

Senators have criticised the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission for delaying corruption cases against county governors, warning that they may summon top officials of the agency to explain the slow progress.

The Senate County Public Accounts Committee expressed concern over how governors are dramatically arrested and paraded at EACC headquarters, yet the cases either stall or are never concluded.

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna triggered the debate by questioning the Commission’s handling of investigations against governors whose homes have been raided and offices searched.

“We would like to see all the governors whose homes have been raided by EACC and taken for questioning charged and jailed if found guilty to serve as a lesson to others and not a political weapon to threaten critics,” Sifuna said.

 “We all live in Kenya and know what is happening, it is very wrong to raid a private home, ransack it and arrest the owner, take him to EACC over alleged corruption allegations and the matter drags on for several years without conclusion," he added.

Among the county chiefs whose homes have been raided are Governors George Natembeya (Trans Nzoia), Kimani Wamatangi (Kiambu), Mahmoud Ali (Marsabit) and Jeremiah Lomorukai (Turkana), yet none of the cases has led to formal charges or convictions.

Committee Chairperson Moses Kajwang said the arrest of Marsabit Governor Mahmoud Ali in April 2024 was a clear example of EACC’s sluggish investigations.

“It is not our mandate to advise EACC on how to do its work. But we are concerned that the Governor was arrested in April last year, and he has not been charged in court till today,” he said.

Kajwang further warned that the Commission risked becoming a political tool if it failed to prove its independence by finalising cases.

“EACC might be used to settle political scores, yet it is an independent body that is supposed to deal with corruption cases both in the National and County Governments across the country,” he said.

Other senators including Enock Wambua and Okong’o Omogeni joined the call for action, questioning the timeline of investigations and the agency’s appetite for public drama rather than results.

The committee has now resolved to invite EACC officials to explain the cause of the delays and share any challenges they face in pursuing county-level corruption.

Kajwang summed up the committee’s frustration, saying, “After more than one year, it is only fair that the EACC settles this matter and lets the world to know whether the Governor is corrupt.”