Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji has approved the prosecution of Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong for abuse of office and flouting procurement procedures.
His actions allegedly led to the loss of more than Sh20 million.
Ojaamong is also facing the charge of conspiracy to steal more than Sh20 million from the county coffers and irregular acqusition.
The charges emanate from investigations by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission which started in 2016.
The EACC says the governor single sourced a company called Madam R Ltd and gave it a tender for waste management. “There are no records of proper procurement procedures followed in awarding this tender,” a source at the EACC said.
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Once the tender was awarded the county paid another company with a similar name, Madam R, but which was a sole proprietorship.
“The money was then transfered to an account in Germany,” said the EACC official privy to the details.
The anti-graft watchdog said there is no evidence that the company did any work or has the expertise.
“This was a phony company created to syphon cash from the county.”
Ojaamong has said he is innocent, adding that the investigations by the EACC were malicious and a witch-hunt. On June 2, the DPP received investigation files involving a governor, two PSs and a former governor.
On June 7, EACC chairman Eliud Wabukala and CEO Halake Waqo told the Senate Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights they recommended that three governors and one who served between 2013-17 be charged with abuse of office, economic crimes and diversion of public resources.
“These are not petty corruption files. They are all serious files which have been investigated over the last one or two years. Some of them have been suspended because of court orders but they were lifted,” Waqo told the committee at Parliament.
“In the days to come more files will be forwarded to the DPP which carry similar weight.”