- The activist says the private account belongs to Monica Wambua and is held at CFC Stanbic Bank, Kenyatta Avenue branch in Nairobi.
- Wambua is the committee’s assistant director functions and acting director corporate.
Image: FILE
Activist Okiya Omtatah wants a private bank account frozen, saying a public agency has channelled huge sums to it.
He says the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee uses the account to handle public funds.
In court papers filed under a certificate of urgency, Omtatah says the committee has deposited huge sums of money to the account at Stanbic Bank.
He wants it frozen pending the determination of the case.
Omtatah says the account exposes public money as it is not subject to checks and balances as provided for in law.
The activist says the private account belongs to Monica Wambua and is held at CFC Stanbic Bank, Kenyatta Avenue branch in Nairobi.
Wambua is the committee’s assistant director functions and acting director corporate.
IGRTC chief executive Peter Leley and Wambua are the respondents. The IGRTC, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, Devolution PS, Attorney General and Auditor General are listed as interested parties.
Omtatah says Leley breached the Constitution and the law by diverting public funds to a personal account.
The committee is mandated to establish a framework for consultation and cooperation between the national and county governments, and amongst the county governments.
The committee took over the residual functions of the Transition Authority as envisaged under Section 12 (b) of the IGR Act.
The petition states that Leley used his discretion to transfer Sh180 million received from the State Department of Devolution to Wambua’s account.
“Upon further investigation, the petitioner has established that the 1st respondent has routinely been depositing large sums of public funds in the said personal account, which is not subject to the checks and balances in law which govern public accounts to safeguard public money,” the documents state.
Omtatah says the two could have conspired to steal public funds by diverting the committee’s money to the personal account, to which the first and second respondents have exclusive and unfettered access.
“The petitioner is reasonably apprehensive that the account could also be used for money laundering given the blanket cover it is given to the personal account in the 1st respondent’s letter to the branch manager,” he says.
“The petitioner posits that it is critically important for a forensic audit of all IGRTC accounts to be conducted by the auditor general to show the flow of money from IGRTC to the personal account then to any third parties.”
The respondents are yet to file their responses.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris