• EACC said they submitted probe file to DPP and awaiting for his direction to make arrests.
• Senators to schedule a joint sitting of all three state agencies soon 'to know who is lying about probe'.
Top officials of the troubled Lake Basin Development Authority have accused the EACC of misleading Kenyans over the impending arrests the agency had promised.
Led by the authority’s Managing Director Raymond Omollo and chairman Odoyo Owidi, the officials accused the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission of dishonesty over the status of the ongoing probe into the Sh4.1 billion mall.
The EACC on Tuesday told Senate’s Devolution and Intergovernmental committee that they have concluded investigations and forwarded the file to DPP Noordin Haji. They said they are awaiting his direction.
EACC Director of Investigations Abdi Mohamed said the commission forwarded the investigations file to Haji on July 1.
He said the contract was characterised by massive fictitious claims by the contractor, open bribery and overpayments.
But appearing a day later, LBDA revealed that the investigations are still ongoing and the EACC was still at their offices seeking documents as late as recently as this week.
Owidi asked how the anti-graft agency could claim to have completed investigations when the authority submitted crucial files to the Integrity Centre on Tuesday.
Discounting Abdi’s claim, the chairman enumerated five instances after July 1— the date when EACC said it had submitted the file —when the anti-corruption commission went looking for documents from them.
He disclosed that they submitted documents to the Commission’s Integrity Centre on July 29, August 6, August 9 and August 20, at the agency's request.
The LBDA officials were appearing before the Senate’s committee on Devolution and Inter-Governmental relations to respond to queries by Kisumu Senator Fred Outa.
Outa demanded that the EACC, DPP and LBDA be summoned jointly so the committee can determine who is telling the truth about the status of the probe.
Committee’s chairman and Laikipia Senator John Kinyua said the committee will soon schedule a joint sitting of all the three state agencies.
Owidi further appealed to Senate to protect the authority from EACC, citing harassment of officials and the contractor.
“Every time a new person comes to LBDA, they (the EACC) come to visit. When the developer is paid, EACC must visit,” Owidi said.
The chairman further deplored slow pace of investigations, saying it amounts to economic sabotage since it has made it impossible for the multi-billion mall to attract tenants.
“They have visited the mall 31 times and carted away over 300 original documents and still no evidence has been taken to court or any arrest made,” he said.
Edited by R.Wamochie