Governor Wamatangi says EACC raid was politically motivated, claims senior officer vowed to ‘make him dirty’
Wamatangi claimed that he had received a disturbing phone call from a senior officer who allegedly threatened to tarnish his reputation.
Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi has claimed that the raid by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) was a politically motivated attempt to undermine his leadership and tarnish his record.
Speaking on Tuesday after his release, Wamatangi claimed that the raid was part of a broader effort to sabotage his administration and hinder the development projects underway in the county.
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Wamatangi claimed that he had received a disturbing phone call from a senior officer who allegedly threatened to tarnish his reputation.
“Somebody called me, a very senior officer, and told me, ‘even if you are going to finish your governorship, you will be so dirty, we will have made you dirty.’”
Despite the threats, Wamatangi emphasised that he would not be intimidated.
“I am not afraid. I will not be cowed, and I will not be intimidated. I will stand by the principle that our people deserve right in,” he said.
The governor also questioned the legitimacy of the search operation, highlighting what he described as a fraudulent court order used to carry out the raid.
“The order that was used to come and harass my family was fictitious. It was obtained fraudulently. They were using the wrong names. I am the governor of Kiambu. If I am someone to be sought, I’ll take myself there tomorrow morning,” he said.
He criticised the scale of the operation, claiming that more than 50 police officers were sent to his office and home, and an additional 200 officers were deployed to the offices of other senior county officials.
“There is no reason why more than 50 police officers can wake up to my office, to my home, and another almost 200 deployed to various ministers’ offices in my government. And the reason is only one: they are targeting my ministers who perform,” Wamatangi said.
He explained that the EACC officers found a large volume of documents at his home, including personal records such as birth certificates, graduation certificates and various other files, but none of them were relevant to the investigation.
Earlier on Tuesday, Wamatangi was arrested after his home and office were raided as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged corruption.
Sh230 million contract
In a statement, the EACC linked Wamatangi and several other senior officials to a Sh230 million contract for an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, which is said to have been awarded under questionable circumstances.
The Authority also noted that it is investigating allegations of procurement irregularities, conflict of interest, and abuse of office within Kiambu’s county administration.
In addition to Wamatangi, the EACC is probing nine other county officials for suspected embezzlement of public funds and conflicts of interest. The officials are suspected of receiving up to Sh1.5 billion through irregular procurement processes and fictitious supplies, in breach of public finance and procurement laws.
The governor has, however, denied the accusations by the EACC, terming the investigation a smear campaign designed to fail his administration.
“They want to make my government a failure because of the record that we have. I want to announce to anyone who wants to seek the governorship of Kiambu that it is the people of Kiambu who elect the governor, not the police, not the EACC,” he said.
EACC said that once investigations are complete, the findings may lead to prosecution of those found culpable, recovery of unexplained assets, and seizure of proceeds of corruption.
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