On Wednesday 13th September 2023, the High Court of Kenya froze a Sh. 643.2 million account belonging to a junior City Hall employee. The action was taken after the employee failed to provide reasonable explanation for his wealth origin.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) had submitted documents to the court, requesting the freezing of the employee’s assets while they pursued their ongoing investigations.
The Junior City Hall employee, who serves as a Development Control Officer, receives a monthly net salary of Sh. 55,866.
However, it came to light that he possessed millions of shilling spread across 12 bank accounts and Mpesa accounts. He also made huge investments in prime real estate, including land and apartments, as well as owning expensive vehicles.
EACC initiated the investigation in January 2016 with the aim of uncovering the source of the employee’s wealth and how he acquired his properties up to October 31, 2022.
In November 2022, legal action was taken by filing a lawsuit to freeze his bank account and assets.
The commission valued the respondent’s unexplained assets to the tune of Sh. 643,213,688.12. Other properties he owned were not available for preservation since they had dissipated.
EACC suspects that the money earned by the employee constitutes proceeds of corruption and economic crimes, primarily because the employee was unable to provide a satisfactory account for his wealth.
They also restrained five more individuals related to the City Hall employee from withdrawing, transferring, disposing, wasting or dealing with funds in any of the accounts.
Additional properties scheduled for repossession include four luxury vehicles, among them a Land Cruiser valued at Sh. 7 million, a Toyota Alphard worth Sh. 2 million and two Mercedes-Benz vehicles worth Sh. 3.1 million and Sh. 3.4 million.
Kanani: 1824 owner worth over Sh. 100 million; earns Sh. 55,000 monthly salary at City Hall
The City Hall junior employee is the owner of a popular club in Lang’ata. However, the club is not under scrutiny at the moment. Allegedly, the suspect was able to explain his source of capital for the club.
