EACC to recover Sh88 million from ex-Samburu governor Moses Lenolkulal

Former Samburu Governor Moses Lenolkulal appeares before the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court in Nairobi on January 30, 2020. (Photo: Handout)

By Joseph Ndunda
Saturday, March 23, 2024

EACC said Lenolkulal had purchased the prime properties with funds (Sh80,763,715) illegally obtained from Samburu County in 2015 when he was serving as the county chief.

The anti-corruption court has given the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) the go-ahead to seize and sell land worth Sh88 million in Karen, Nairobi, belonging to former Samburu governor Moses Lenolkulal.

The commission is recovering the four parcels of land from the governor after it proved to the anti-corruption court in Nairobi that the governor looted the county funds and used the money to buy the four parcels of land that are now developed.

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In a statement to the media, the EACC said Lenolkulal had allegedly purchased the prime properties with funds (Sh80,763,715) illegally obtained from Samburu County in 2015 when he was serving as the county chief.

The commission is now recovering the Sh80.7 million at an interest rate of Sh12 per cent from the date of receipt of the funds as ordered by the High Court on Wednesday this week, according to the EACC statement.

The governor is said to have been paid the money for fuel through his company – Oryx Service Station, which is his solely owned company.

The politician, however, can pay the amount in cash to the commission to avoid the auctioning of his developed properties.

The High Court also forfeited Sh14.6 million frozen during the hearing of the EACC recovery case and further ordered the former governor to pay the EACC for prosecuting him.

EACC spokesman Eric Ngumbi said the judgment is progressive after the High Court declared that any public funds paid in contracts that are founded on illegalities amount to proceeds of corruption and should be forfeited to the State even if the contractor did the work and even if there was no loss of funds.

"In the Samburu case, (Lenolkulal) who awarded himself a contract and traded with the county government through his personal company, will forfeit all the money paid to him for the supply of fuel," Ngumbi said.

He said the judgment will help in taming numerous other cases of conflict of interest in the counties where governors are the leading contractors and suppliers of goods and services through their proxy companies registered under family members, friends, associates, and students on attachment.

The Commission's investigations undertaken in 2019 established that in the 2013/2014 to 2018/2019 financial years, Lonalkulal, while being governor, unlawfully entered into contracts with the county to supply fuel through Oryx Service Station.

The investigators also discovered that the governor received a total of Sh80,763,715 from the county during the said period, which was payment for the said contracts for the supply of fuel through a bank account held in the name of Oryx Service Station Limited, which belongs to him.

The commission says this was a clear conflict of interest, which is an offence under Section 42(3) of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, 2003.