EACC arrests six Gov’t officials over Ksh.600M Malaba water tender

Detectives from the
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on Wednesday arrested six government officials over an alleged fraudulent Ksh.600 million tender for the construction of the Malaba
Water and Sanitation Project.

The
six include four officials of the Rift Valley Water Services Board (RVWSB) who
were arrested in Nakuru and Eldoret, namely; Rachael
Nafula Makokha (Programme Coordinator), Agnes Jerop Bowen (Programme Accountant),
Eng. Patrose Sempeiyan Leshinka (Programme Engineer), and David Kigen (Procurement
Assistant).

The
other two are from the Lake Victoria North Water Service
Board who were nabbed in Nandi and Kakamega counties, namely; Isaac Kiptanui
Ruto (Former Water Provision Officer), and Jared Ouma Okungu (Infrastructure
Development Officer).

EACC
began its probe after receiving information that the tender worth the said
amount had reportedly been awarded to Mactebac Contractors Limited, which
allegedly neither met the qualifications nor had the capacity to execute a
job of that magnitude.

A
source at the commission told Citizen Digital that the probe revealed that Mactebac
Contractors Limited Director Joram Opala Otieno submitted forged documents in order to win the tender.

“The
Technical Evaluation Committee members failed to perform due diligence and
therefore failed to confirm and verify the qualifications of Mactebac
Contractors who had submitted the lowest evaluated responsive tender,” the
source said.

The
commission then presented its findings to the Office of the Director of Public
Prosecutions (ODPP), which  recommended that the suspects be arrested and charged.

The
six are presently being held at EACC’s Bungoma Regional Office pending
arraignment on Thursday.

They
face various charges among them; wilful failure
to comply with the law and regulations relating to procurement, neglect of
official duty by a public officer, and fraudulent practice in procurement.

The
commission is presently also trailing Mactebac Contractors Limited Director
Joram Opala Otieno, who has since been urged to surrender to the Bungoma
office.