The untold story of Busia finance office burning – Weekly Citizen

The two employees of Busia county government who were picked by up by Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission officers for allegedly being involved in an incident of setting ablaze the county finance department have been released by court.
Two suspects were released on a bond of Sh500,000 each by a Busia court.
The bond was handed after principal magistrate Samson Temu dismissed the request by the prosecution to deny the duo bond.
In his ruling, Temu ordered that Paul Onono Okoth and Evans Wangata be released on bond of Sh500,000 each with a surety of a similar amount.
“The accused can be released on a bond of Sh500,000 with surety of similar amount,” he said adding that they should deposit their passports in court if any.
He further ruled that the duo should not set foot at the county government offices especially near their offices where the offence took place.
“If they have to set foot into these offices, it should be specifically to report if they are required by the county government,” he said adding that the accused persons are still employees of the county government until proved guilty.

DCI George Kinoti

The magistrate further emphasised that the accused persons shall never transact any business on behalf of the county government of Busia until the case is heard and determined.
“The accused persons to surrender themselves to the office of the DCI when required to do so without fail,” he ordered adding that the two should comply with the conditions being imposed for public interest.
The magistrate also ruled that the duo should not conduct any witness directly or indirectly once statements are supplied to them warning that their bond terms will be cancelled if they failed to abide by the conditions given by the court.
The two appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to the charges of arson but they were held in custody after the prosecution pleaded that their bond terms be deferred pending the hearing and determination of their case.
The prosecution through Mureithi Gacharia cited the likelihood of the duo interfering with evidence, witnesses and gravity of the matter as compelling reasons for denial of bond terms.
The case is scheduled for October 15 2019 and January 23 2020 for a mention and a further hearing respectively.
The two employees were picked by up by EACC officers for allegedly flouting procurement laws that allegedly prompted them to set fire at finance department so as to destroy important documents dealing with finances.
The county acting director for finance Onono and an accountant Wangata recorded statements at DCI offices in connection with burning of finance department that happened in the dead of the night at around 2am.
DCI officers had camped at the county government headquarters carrying out investigations following the incident that shocked many people and left them wondering and alleging that it was an inside job to conceal vital evidence concerning embezzlement of funds.
However, EACC sleuths stormed finance department and started perusing documents in different offices including the one where financial documents were being kept but was burnt mysteriously.
The EACC officers who were accompanied by their colleagues from Busia DCI offices are trying to establish what made the suspects to burn financial documents in the finance department.
Reliable sources revealed that EACC officers wrote a letter to Busia county secretary Nicodemus Mulaku demanding for some financial documents and information about flouting procurement laws involving three companies Evam, Draccy and Loviannah Enterprise Limited.
The letter is said to have been written on August 27 2019 from Bungoma EACC offices by the deputy officer in charge George Ojowi.
County government security officers kicked the press out of the compound as EACC and DCI officers continued to do their investigations.
Weekly Citizen established that the fire outbreak occurred when some senior officers at the county government who were being sought by EACC are said to have gone underground.

EACC Boss Twalib Mbarak

Inner sources revealed that the whole incident was an inside job because the fire engine is just less than 20 metres from finance department but brigade officers ensured that all financial documents had been burned before they started pretending to put off the fire.
“It is a clear indication that the whole saga was an inside job because some senior officers in the said docket are out of the country fearing to be apprehended by EACC officers,” said one resident on condition of anonymity.
Other sources said this was the second incident to happen at the same department noting that the one that occurred was when a plan to burn the office flopped after a senior security officer noticed fire and contained it before spreading to other offices.
A lady officer was transferred for availing information about the plans of burning the finance department to the press.
In 2017, a robbery was stagemanaged at Busia county water offices but it flopped because it was not properly planned. It was allegedly planned by people who were behind the scandal.
Despite claiming that criminals broke into the offices and took away computers containing vital information, locks were intact and not tampered with in anyway.
It was however found out that the CPU and sensitive documents were stolen from water offices but lucky enough, the then chief officer the late Mboga had shared the same with EACC officers.
Last year, some computers with sensitive information on finance went missing from the finance department.