The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) is seeking to seize assets worth Sh952.3 million linked to a manager of the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA).
Benson Muteti Musila, a regional manager at KeRRA is accused of getting kickbacks from contractors and also awarded State tenders to a company associated with his brother.
According to EACC, the bank accounts and the real estate property in Nairobi, Makueni and Kilifi counties could not have been built by his monthly salary of Sh390,000, arguing that he was a beneficiary of kickbacks from road contractors.
“Cumulatively the above unexplained wealth comprises bank and M-Pesa deposits amounting to Sh.567,626,872.55, landed properties valued at Sh.347,040,000.00 motor vehicles valued at Sh.5,350,000.00, listed shares valued at Sh.2,240,000.00 and insurance policies with a maturity value of Sh.30,106,952.44,” says EACC.
His properties are said to be managed by his spouse, Zipporah Mwongeli.
His also accused to have used his associates companies; Mumbe Junior Academy Limited, Mumbe Boys High School, Mumbe Girls High School and Mumbe Hardware and Supplies Limited to launder money.
Muteti amassed the wealth between February 2009 and December 2018 where his pay, according to court documents, would have totalled to Sh136 million for the 119 months.
In October last year, the anti-graft agency were allowed by court to investigate the source of his wealth.
“It is in the public interest that the investigative bodies to be allowed to carry out their mandates without interference, and there must be very clear and cogent reasons for the court to interfere with the exercise of their powers,” stated Anti-Corruption Court judge Mumbi Ngugi.
The court heard that multiple deposits had been made into Musila’s 21 KCB bank accounts and an account at NBK and Absa Bank.
“The accounts held Sh567.63 million in a country where a about 97.59 per cent or 69.88 million accounts hold less than Sh100,000, offering a sneak peek into Kenya’s growing income inequality where wealth is concentrated in the hands of a small segment of the population,” said EACC.
The anti-graft agency suspects the deposits were from contractors either seeking favours or paying back for jobs already awarded.
Prorperties believed to be owned by Muteti and his associates include apartments in Nairobi’s Mathare North area, Dandora and Kariobangi South, Mumbe School located in Makindu as well as several parcels of land in Makueni.
The apartments and land are worth Sh241.6 million.
the couple also runs a hardware store in Makindu, Makueni and Ruaraka in Nairobi, while their son runs a construction firm known as Mumbe Construction.