By Collins Wanzallah
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has summoned Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa over claims of bribe demand. Hon. Barasa has in a rejoinder said that he will not honour the summons and will send his lawyer to represent him instead. EACC, in a letter sent to the MP, stated that he should appear at its Integrity Centre headquarters on Tuesday for a statement recording. The Commission spokesperson, Eric Ngumbi, confirmed that a summons had been issued to the MP and added that he was being investigated over bribery claims made against him.
According to Mr Ngumbi, this was a second chance being accorded to the MP. “The Commission accords you a second opportunity to come and respond to the allegations of bribery made against you. To this end, you are required to appear at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission’s offices at Integrity Centre, Nairobi, on August 27, 2024, at 9:00 am,” a letter by EACC dated August 21, 2024, read in part
At the same time, the commission warned the MP of dire consequences, including arrest and prosecution, if he failed to turn up for grilling. “Please note that, if you do not turn up to respond to these allegations, this inquiry will proceed to its conclusion and appropriate recommendations made without further reference to you,” read the statement.
The commission named its officers Celestine Owiti and Moses Tile as having been assigned the role of recording a statement from Barasa. According to sources privy to the matter, the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KURA) (Upper Western Region, Bungoma Office) advertised for a tender for spot improvement of the Kamukuywa MarketMusembe Primary School Road through an open tender (No. KeRRA/08/39/BGM/KLM/RMLF22%//22/23-158).
A contractor, one Hon. Angela Mulwa, allegedly approached Barasa for assistance in securing the said tender with Ksh 2 million on offer. The money was then allegedly deposited in the MP’s bank account in cash on December 13, 2023, at the KCB Karen Branch. “The purpose of the cash deposit was marked as a loan advance, “adds the source, who said that investigators will be digging deeper to establish what kind of loan the MP was getting from a contractor.
In his response to the summons to facilitate the investigations, Barasa wrote to the commission saying that: “I have received your second summons referenced EACC.7/10/1 VOL XIX (144). The first summon indicated that the reason for this summon was to facilitate the commission in its investigations for failure to honour financial obligations, which I replied to your officer and indicated not to honour the said summons because the commission cannot be reduced into a debt collection agency.” He continued to say that the commission has since changed, backtracked on her reasons for earlier summons, and paraphrased the second summon to facilitate an investigation of bribery claims to coerce him to pay.
I would like to bring to your attention that the deposit of Ksh 2,000,000 to my cooperative bank account was a soft loan from the said politician who unsuccessfully ran for governor in a county in Kenya on December 13, 2023. “It’s clear from the documents that were forwarded to the bank to facilitate transfer indicated soft loan; you can peruse them. Why I haven’t paid because of the dispute in the contractual conditions is none of your business, added Barasa. He continued to say that the said matter was reported to DCI Karen and was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction since that was purely a civil matter.
“This is therefore to bring to your attention that I will not honour the summons as this is purely an abuse of the mandate of the commission. You cannot invite me to interpret for you the reasons why the cash was transferred when you read the documents that supported the transfer of the funds because, while the wiring amount is more than $1M, you must provide support documents. I will instead send you a lawyer on the said date, wrote Barasa to the commission.
