BY BUSINESS DAILY: An Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) investigator on Tuesday described to the High Court how former City Hall employee who was Chief Finance Officer, Jimmy Mutuku Kiamba, acquired a fortune worth more than half a billion shillings on a modest net pay of Sh90,833. His bank account also rose from Sh1 million to Sh. 1.02 billion in two years.
Mr James Kariuki told Justice Hedwig Ong’udi that Mr Kiamba deposited vast sums of cash in 11 banks accounts through City Hall accountants, security staff, clerks and his official driver.
The 11 accounts in eight banks moved more than Sh400 million between January and November 2014, a sum that the EACC says could not be built by the gross monthly pay of Sh90,833 and an Athi River property valued at Sh600,000 that Mr Kiamba declared as his properties.
Mr Kiamba’s estate includes two maisonettes in South C, a plush town house in Kileleshwa, four apartments in Kilimani and eight plots of land in Muthaiga, Mavoko and Machakos, said the anti-graft agency.
He also owns a fleet of six cars.
The EACC believes Mr Kiamba acquired the property through fraudulent deals using his position as City Hall Chief Finance Officer (CFO).
Among the persons he used to make the deposits were Mr Joseph Njoroge, who worked at the City Hall’s Treasury. Mr Njoroge, he said, made total deposits of Sh66.8 million.
Mr Stephen Osiro, a former head of treasury at City Hall, made deposits of Sh4.1 million, while Ms Nancy Withera, who worked with the Security Department and Mr Barnabas Ougo, also made deposits to Mr Kiamba’s accounts.
A clerical officer, Ambrose Musau and Joseph Mwaura Njoroge, Mr Kiamba’s driver, also deposited millions into the accounts.
Mr Kariuki said in five years, Mr Kiamba’s salary should have been Sh5.8 million but the money in his accounts raised suspicion.
He said the Commission was able to get bank statements for all the accounts and compared the amounts deposited and his salary.
The amounts in the bank could not be supported by his salary and Sh600,000 Athi River investments.
The EACC further said the former City Hall official’s actual wealth was well beyond the amount he declared in 2007 and 2013 and that only proper investigations could reveal his true worth.
The anti-graft agency had earlier secured orders to freeze the Mr Kiamba’s assets to pave way for further investigations into his vast estate.
The hearing continues.
Pls confirm if the size 8s 18mts by 6 mts