Ex-Bungoma governor grilled over Sh70.7M corruption tenders

Former Bungoma Governor Wycliffe Wangamati has recorded a statement at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) Western regional office in Bungoma in the ongoing investigations over the alleged theft of Ksh 70.2 million.

EACC is investigating how the County government of Bungoma lost Sh70,205,882 paid to companies linked to the then governor and his brothers in the 2017/18 and 2021/22 financial year.

Confirming the record of a statement by Wangamati to The Informer Media Group, EACC Spokesperson Stephen Karuga said investigations are still on, and soon they will be recommending the appropriate actions.

“The outcome of the investigation will inform appropriate action, which may include criminal prosecution of any persons found culpable and recovery of lost public funds,” he stated.

Wangamati was set to appear at the EACC regional offices earlier this week, but it was pushed to today after the statement recording was postponed.

The statement recording by Wangamati comes after Webuye West Member of Parliament, Dan Wanyama, also appeared before the anti-graft commission for questioning and statement recording last Tuesday over corruption allegations on the same irregular procurement and proxies.

The legislator is reportedly linked to the irregular tenders awarded in the two financial years when Wangamati was governor.

This comes as a report by the then Auditor General Edward Ouko pointed out some of the procurement irregularities that the Wangamati-led government committed.

For instance, Ouko pointed out that a local supplier was paid a total of Sh2,378,000 to supply furniture.

The furniture supplier was directly awarded the tender contrary to Section 91 of the Public Procurement and Assets Disposal Act, 2015.

Ouko stated that the Wangamati administration did not provide for an audit review, notification to the authority to use direct procurement, the appointment, and minutes of the ad-hoc evaluation committee.

OAG also raised queries on why the former governor procured corrugated steel pipes whose budget was not set in the 2017/18 Financial budget, while the supplier was paid 46,064,273 for the supply and delivery.

The Anti-graft authority has been recently focused on the clean-up of counties, as several county officials have been arrested over their engagement in corrupt dealings and siphoning of county property and money.

A senior official at EACC stated that currently, they are focused on ensuring the devolved units are corruption-free and those involved in embezzlement of public funds through collusion, procurement fraud, bribery, and payment of fictitious contracts are brought to book and charged.