The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has arrested a Kitui County Chief Officer and five company directors over alleged conflict of interest and procurement irregularities involving county contracts worth KSh17.4 million.
In a statement on August 6, the anti-graft agency said investigations established that the county official allegedly used companies linked to close relatives and associates to conduct business with the County Government while serving as an Accounting and Authorised Expenditure (AIE) holder.
According to EACC, the five companies were awarded contracts valued at KSh17,484,484.49, with the county paying out more than KSh14.1 million between the 2018/2019 and 2024/2025 financial years.
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The Commission said investigations revealed that several directors of the companies were close relatives of the county official.
“The investigations further revealed that the directors of three of the companies are close relatives of the Chief Officer,” EACC said.
The Commission added that financial investigations also uncovered transactions linking the county official to directors of two other companies.
“Additionally, numerous financial transactions showed flows of funds between the Chief Officer and the directors of two other companies,” stated EACC.
Following the conclusion of investigations, the commission forwarded the case file to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), which approved the prosecution of nine suspects.
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The suspects are expected to face charges including conflict of interest, abuse of office, money laundering, acquisition of proceeds of crime and engaging in corrupt procurement practices.
EACC said six suspects have already been arrested and are expected to be arraigned before the Kitui Law Courts, while three others remain at large.
The Commission directed the remaining suspects to surrender to its Lower Eastern Regional Office in Machakos or the nearest EACC office for processing.
EACC said the arrests form part of its ongoing efforts to combat corruption and protect public resources, while urging public institutions to strengthen compliance with the Conflict of Interest Act, 2025, by putting in place effective systems for declaring, managing and preventing conflicts of interest.
EACC Arrests Nakuru County Officials in KSh120 Million Conflict of Interest Probe
Earlier, EACC arrested seven current and former senior officials of the Nakuru County Government, together with a contractor, over an alleged KSh120 million procurement fraud linked to conflict of interest and corruption.
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The arrests followed investigations into contracts awarded by the county between the 2020/2021 and 2024/2025 financial years, with EACC alleging that the suspects manipulated the procurement process to irregularly award tenders worth more than KSh120 million.
According to the Commission, investigators established that one county official allegedly facilitated the award of county contracts to companies owned by her spouse while serving in public office, creating a conflict of interest.
The commission said the firms secured 29 county contracts valued at KSh120,042,417, with financial investigations allegedly tracing part of the payments made under the contracts to several senior county officials.
The anti-graft agency further alleged that the companies relied on falsified documents to win the tenders and that some of the proceeds were transferred into joint bank accounts held by the county official and her husband.
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