Wycliffe Oparanya, a former governor of Kakamega County, and his wife were questioned by investigators from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission on Wednesday in connection with the suspected theft of Ksh—1.3 billion during his two terms in office.
The anti-graft Commission claims that current investigations show that during Oparanya's administration, public funds were illegally obtained through proxies and cronies.
"Following increasing media inquiries, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) wishes to confirm that today, Wednesday, 23rd August 2023, the Commission conducted a successful search on various targets as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of embezzlement of public funds amounting to over Ksh.1.3 billion from Kakamega County during the reign of former Governor, Wycliffe Oparanya, and where it was found that public funds were unlawfully acquired through proxies and associates," said EACC Deputy CEO Abdi Mohamud.
The EACC Deputy CEO confirmed that Oparanya was taken to Integrity Centre in Nairobi to "clarify several issues and record a statement on the ongoing investigation."
Did you read this?
The Kakamega County probe, according to Mohamud, is one of many high-impact investigations into the theft of public
funds that the Commission is conducting in several County Governments, and the operations are all at various stages.
Therefore, the committee recommended decision-makers to avoid politicking and ethnicizing the investigating process.
The detectives raided three of his residences earlier in the day and removed evidence important to their case.
Danstan Omari, Oparanya's attorney, was first denied access to his client but was finally granted entry.
Various Azimio leaders among them NARC-Kenya Party boss Martha Karua and ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna showed up at the EACC headquarters in a show of solidarity. The leaders asserted that the operation was a political witch hunt and connected it to President William Ruto's forthcoming trip to western Kenya.
