Newton Terer and a local chief were among five suspects arrested and detained in Eldoret over the loss of Sh6 billion at the National Cereals and Produce Board.
The former NCPB managing director was in a list of seven suspects to be prosecuted over fraudulent payments for maize delivered to the NCPB stores.
Agriculture PS Richard Lesiyampe and NCPB finance boss Kiprotich Ng'elechey were the first to be arrested in the swoop. Three others were also taken in.
DPP Noordin Haji ordered the officials' arrest on grounds there is sufficient evidence to have them prosecuted for the said loss.
The other suspects are
traders implicated for colluding with officials at the Board to defraud the agency of billions of shillings in maize deliveries.
They were held at the EACC offices in Eldoret town, the arrests bringing to ten the total number of suspects in custody so far.
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On Thursday, Haji said in a statement that five suspects, including Agriculture PS Richard Lesiyampe and NCPB General Manager of Finance
had been arrested in Nairobi.
"Further to the arrests of the PS Ministry of Agriculture and the GM Finance NCPB, the Commission has arrested the former Managing Director of NCPB, Newton Terer and four others," EACC said in a tweet.
The commission said it was
pursuing nine other suspects.
The suspects will be charged with abuse of office, conspiracy to defraud, fraudulent acquisition
of public funds, unauthorised spending of public funds, and neglect of official duty.
Haji said their actions saw the government spend over Sh11 billion instead of Sh6 billion budgeted for 6 million bags in the 2017/18 financial year.
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