Tharaka Nithi governor surrenders to EACC officers

By Mwenda Maguru

Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki on Monday surrendered to anti-corruption officers in Nairobi days after the public prosecutor ordered his arrest over an irregular tender.

Governor Njuki presented himself to the sleuths at their Integrity House headquarters ahead of his arraignment over an alleged Sh34.9 million irregular tender.

In a statement issued on September 4, 2020, the Director of Public Prosecutions said that Tharaka Nithi County government awarded the Sh34.9m tender for a solid waste disposal incinerator to a company that presented fraudulent documents.

The company, Westomaxx Investment Ltd, is said to have installed the incinerator that it had procured from Generation Electronic & Allied Company Ltd, a firm Haji and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption (EACC) officers say is associated with Njuki.

The firm linked to Njuki, investigations revealed, imported the incinerator at a cost of Sh3,879,945.30.

Haji said that the fraud was perpetrated by county officials at the procurement and finance departments

The audit trails, Haji said, revealed that the money was wired to the following companies and individuals: Japhet Gitonga Nyange (Sh8.7 million), Kenneth Mucuiya Ngai (Sh5.2 million), Kenstar Electrical and Hardware Ltd (Sh4.7 million), and Caroline Sheila Wambui (Sh985,000).

Further, the EACC investigation on which the Haji relied on to order Njuki’s arrest, revealed that the project was procured, implemented, and commissioned without an environmental impact assessment and was not approved by the National Environment Authority.

Njuki is among 17 individuals that EACC said there is sufficient evidence to charge with various criminal offenses.