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The Office of the Director of Puecutions (ODPP) has stepped up the Csitting and former governors, their families, and contractors implicated in multi-million-shilling corruption scandals.
In a statement released on Thursday, DPP Renson Ingonga confirmed that several county leaders and their associates will face court over charges ranging from conflict of interest, abuse of office, to misappropriation of public resources.
In Bomet County, Governor Hillary Kipng’eno Barchok and contractor Evans Kipkoech Korir, Director of Chemasus Construction Limited, have been listed for prosecution over irregular county contracts worth Ksh. 2.75 million. According to the DPP, the two allegedly engaged in conflict of interest and unlawful acquisition of property through county tenders.
The statement read in part: “The EACC recommended that the following persons be arraigned in court; Hillary Kipng’eno Barchok, the Governor of Bomet, and Evans Kipkoech Korir, Director of Chemasus Construction Limited.”
Elsewhere, in Bungoma County, the DPP has approved charges against former Governor Wycliffe Wangamati and several of his former officials accused of siphoning over Ksh. 70 million through irregular tender awards. The officials named include Maurice Wabwil Marango, Alex Musonye, Michael Simiyu, Edward Maaya, Jumah Swaleh, Wafula Wakoli, Wisdom Baraka, Rita Mwaka, Sandara Nasambu, Christopher Masika and Jimmy Wekesa, among others.
The anti-graft net has also spread wider, with the DPP ordering further investigations in Kiambu and Marsabit counties, where hundreds of millions are alleged to have been lost through fraudulent tenders.
In Marsabit, investigators uncovered evidence that Governor Mohamud Ali awarded tenders irregularly worth more than Ksh. 728 million between 2017 and 2024.
Meanwhile, in Kiambu, Governor Kimani Wamatangi is under the spotlight over allegations of conflict of interest during his time as Chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Roads and Transport. According to the DPP, Wamatangi allegedly facilitated tender awards to companies linked to himself and close associates between the financial years 2018/2019 and 2021/2022.
Those lined up for prosecution in the Kiambu case include Wamatangi, his wife Anne Waruguru, and several associates: Charles Kiarie, Mary Njeri, Joseph Mwaura, Annie Njoroge, and Faith Wambui.
DPP Ingonga emphasized the commitment of his office to sealing evidentiary gaps and ensuring airtight cases: “I have identified critical evidentiary gaps that require to be covered by way of further investigations,” he noted.
The unfolding developments mark yet another chapter in Kenya’s widening anti-corruption crackdown, with the ODPP and EACC targeting entrenched graft networks in counties.
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