By The Weekly Vision Reporter
A civil servant from the Ministry of Health, Gonjobo Daki Guyo, who is on secondment to the Marsabit County Government, is under investigation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission over alleged involvement in the fraudulent tender valued at Ksh. 20,467,791.
The EACC moved to court, seeking an extension of the preservation order granted by the court on September 29, 2023, for a further period of six months. EACC is said to be undertaking investigations via Inquiry File No. EACC/lSL/Fl/lNQ/2/2023 regarding allegations of procurement fraud and money laundering against Dab Complex (K) Limited.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that Dab Complex (K) Limited irregularly received payments amounting to Ksh. 20,467,791 from Marsabit County in the guise of supply of foodstuffs, stationery, computer accessories, water supply, and car hire. According to EACC investigators, they have since made significant progress towards the completion of investigations and have already established that, as investigations further revealed, one Gonjobo Daki Guyo, a director of Dab Complex (K) Limited, is an employee of the Ministry of Health seconded to the County Government of Marsabit.
Further, investigations have revealed that the monies received by Dab Complex (K) Limited are a product of conflict of interest and procurement irregularities, therefore illegal and unlawful. It has also been reported that EACC is in the final stages of finalizing the investigations to file a civil suit against Dab Complex (K) Limited as well as its directors to recover the monies unlawfully received by them.
The EACC has requested an extension of the preservation orders for a further period of six months pending the conclusion of investigations to obviate a situation whereby the intended recovery or restitution proceedings may be compounded or rendered nugatory altogether. However, Dab Complex (K) Limited, in a quick rejoinder through an affidavit dated April 3, 2024, by Ngojobo Daki Guyo, a director of the company, opposed the requested orders by the EACC.
While supporting the application through a supplementary affidavit sworn on April 16, 2024, by Evanson Mathenge, he asserts that it is not true that the directors of Dab Complex (K) Limited were not questioned, as Gonjobo Daki Guyi recorded a statement with the EACC on January 23, 2024, and that she and her co-director have been summoned by the EACC to record further statements.
In their report, EACC claimed that failure to complete the investigations within six (6) months was primarily occasioned by failure by the County Government of Marsabit to avail information and documents on time.
He contends that the law prohibits employees of county governments from trading with the county governments and that doing so amounts to conflict of interest and corrupt conduct. Further, EACC has recorded over ten statements from officials of the Marsabit County Government confirming that Dab Complex (K) Limited traded with the county.
Further, investigations by EACC through collected documents and recorded statements confirmed that Gonjobo Daki Guyo is an employee of the Ministry of Health seconded to the County Government of Marsabit as the Chief Nursing Officer of Moyale Sub-County Referral Hospital and that it has been established that she is a director of Dab Complex (K) Limited. The ruling by Judge E.N. Maina, dated May 23, 2024, reads in part, “Accordingly, the application is allowed. The preservation order be and is hereby extended for six (6) months from the date of this application”.
