Isiolo, Kenya – Two former Chief Officers of the Isiolo County Government, Giro Liban and Kenneth Turibu Maorwe, have been arrested and charged for their involvement in a multi-million tender fraud. The charges stem from irregular payments totaling Ksh.163.4 million made to various suppliers for services that were never rendered.
The arrest follows a thorough investigation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), which uncovered that the two suspects had facilitated a fraudulent tender process to supply food items and car hire services. Dabasiti Contractors and Suppliers Limited was contracted to provide the services, despite there being no procurement plan or budget for the county government to support the tender.
Further examination by the Auditor General and the Pending Bills Verification Task Force Committee (PBVC) revealed that the Ksh.163.4 million payment was categorized as a pending bill, which the county government later paid off.
After linking the fraud to Liban and Maorwe, the EACC arrested them on Tuesday and took them to its Upper Eastern Regional Offices in Isiolo. They were arraigned before Chief Magistrate Lucy Mutai, where they pleaded not guilty to eight counts of willful failure to comply with procurement laws and four counts of abuse of office.
Both suspects were released on a Ksh.1 million cash bail each, with a bond of a similar amount. The case is set to be mentioned on December 23, 2024, with the hearing scheduled for February 26, 2025.
