EACC arrests 11 officials in alleged misuse of Sh85m Eldama Ravine NG-CDF

A man arrested /STAR ILLUSTRATED

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has arrested 11 suspects linked to embezzlement of Sh85 million from the Eldama Ravine National Government Constituencies Development Fund kitty.

In a statement on Thursday, the anti-graft agency said the suspects include members of the NG-CDF committee and sub-county officials accused of misappropriation and theft of public funds meant for development projects within the constituency.

According to EACC, investigations were launched following complaints that millions of shillings allocated to the constituency between the 2018/2019 and 2020/2021 financial years could not be accounted for, leading to stalled or unimplemented projects.

“The Commission received a complaint alleging that between the 2018/2019 and 2020/2021 financial years, the Eldama Ravine NG-CDF lost approximately Sh85 million, resulting in the failure to implement several proposed development projects within the constituency,” EACC said.

Investigators established that Eldama Ravine Constituency received more than Sh369 million from the NG-CDF Board during the three financial years under review.

However, EACC said although slightly over Sh11 million had been budgeted for monitoring and evaluation activities during the period, a total of Sh85 million was allegedly withdrawn irregularly in cash from the constituency account under the guise of monitoring and evaluation expenditure.

“The investigations further revealed that although Sh11.5 million had been budgeted for Monitoring and Evaluation activities over the three financial years, a total of Sh85,002,440 was irregularly withdrawn in cash from the constituency’s NG-CDF account disguised as M&E expenditure,” the commission said.

Following completion of investigations, the case file was forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, which approved criminal charges against 13 individuals.

The suspects are expected to face charges including abuse of office, conspiracy to commit an economic crime, fraudulent acquisition of public property, false accounting by a public officer and wilful failure to comply with laws governing public funds.

Others include negligence of official duty and irregular management of public resources.

EACC said the 11 suspects arrested on Thursday were escorted to its South Rift regional offices in Nakuru for processing ahead of their arraignment in court.

The commission further revealed that two suspects linked to the case were still at large and urged them to surrender to authorities.

“Meanwhile, the Commission calls upon the two remaining suspects to present themselves at any EACC office,” the agency said.

The latest arrests add to a growing list of corruption-related cases involving misuse of NG-CDF allocations and public funds earmarked for grassroots development projects.

Over the years, concerns have been raised over weak accountability systems in the management of constituency development funds, with several projects either abandoned, incomplete or existing only on paper despite millions of shillings being allocated.

EACC has maintained that it will continue pursuing public officials and individuals involved in corruption and economic crimes, warning that misuse of taxpayer money undermines service delivery and development efforts across the country.

The anti-graft body has also repeatedly urged members of the public to report suspected corruption cases and misuse of public resources to aid investigations and recovery of stolen funds.